













OF THE 


MOST REV. M. J. SPALDING, D.D. 


J. 



“ Romse nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri.” 


Horace. 


NEW YORK : 

TPIE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

No. g WARREN STREET. 

BALTIMORE : JOHN MURPHY & CO. 


Vi* 









By I'T’flTl.pf©!* 

:Ul 5 1917 


Entered, according to Act .of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. D.C. 



JOHN ROSS & CO., PRINTERS, 27 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. 





































































■* ' 




















































































































































































































































PR 



RCHBISHOP SPALDING left his papers 
and letters to the Very Rev. I. T. Hecker, 
that he might make whatever use of them 
he should think proper. 

Those to whom the task of writing this life might 
have been entrusted, with the confident hope that 
it would be well performed, were not at leisure; and 
I was chosen, less from the conviction that I was 
fitted for the work than from the belief that what I 
lacked in ability might in some measure be supplied 
by zeal and industry. 

Though to others this choice may be matter for 
regret, in my mind it will ever remain associated 
with the pleasant memories of the happy days 
which I spent in the society of the Fathers of the 
Congregation of St. Paul, whilst engaged in this 
work. 






IV 


Preface. 


Even to have failed is, possibly, not wholly without 
honor. 

Success in biographical writing, under the most 
favorable circumstances, is rare. 

The difficulty is increased when the subject of 
biography is but recently dead. 

Time, the approver, which destroys false and fac¬ 
titious reputations, is alone able to bring out in all 
their worth and loveliness those which are founded 
in merit. 

Then, the surroundings of a man’s life are like the 
frame to the picture and the light in which it is 
seen. 

Only time can give this setting and mellow down 
the light. 

No life with which we are perfectly familiar can 
be wholly beautiful. 

Omne ignotum pro magnifico est, is the phrase of 
the Roman historian. 

It is this unknown that is wanting in biography 
which deals with the lives of men whom we have 
seen face to face and touched with our hands. 

The life of a priest, too, in ordinary times, is 
necessarily uneventful. 

There are no ‘‘battles, sieges, fortunes”; “disas- 


Preface . 


v 


trous chances, moving accidents by flood and field, 
hair-breadth scapes i’ th’ imminent, deadly breach,” 
to be told of; and though 


“ The drying up a single tear has more 
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore,” 


men now, as in ages past, will make heroes of the 
successful butchers of the race, whilst its benefactors 
are forgotten. 

“The inventor of a spinning-jenny,” says Carlyle, 
“ is pretty sure of his reward in his own day; but the 
writer of a true poem, like the apostle of a true reli¬ 
gion, is nearly as sure of the contrary.” 

On the other hand, there are persons who will find 
matter for wholesome thought in the history of a man 
whose record is without stain, whose purposes were 
benevolent, and all of whose aims were to strengthen 
faith in those doctrines without which human nature 
has but a material and animal value, and life no 
sacredness. The sympathy which I could not but 
feel with the subject of my work I cannot look upon 
as an obstacle to its right performance. As sympathy 
is one of the chief agencies in developing the nobler 
and better qualities of human nature, it also gives the 
truest insight into character. 


VI 


Preface . 


What my partiality may have caused me to see in 
a light too favorable will receive a more correct color¬ 
ing from the calmer judgment of my readers —At 
mihi nunc narraturo vitam defuncti hominis, venia 
opus fuit . 



CONTENTS. 


*-♦- 

CHAPTER I. 

Ancestry—Parentage—Birth—Early Education, . 


TAGS 

II 


CHAPTER II. 

Professor at St. Mary’s College—Enters the Seminary at Bards- 

town —Is Sent to Rome,.23 


CHAPTER III. 


Student Life in Rome, 


36 


CHAPTER IV. 

Last Year in Rome—Public Defence of Theses for the Doctor’s 

Cap,. 4 s 


CHAPTER V. 

Ordained Priest—Returns Home—I s made Pastor of the Cathe¬ 
dral in Bardstown—Professor in the Seminary—The “ Mi¬ 
nerva,” . .61 


CHAPTER VI. 

The “Catholic Advocate”—Religious Journalism—Efforts to 

Extend its Influence,..71 

CHAPTER VII. 

President of St. Joseph’s College—Pastor of St. Peter’s Church, 

in Lexington—Diocese of Nashville, ..... £3 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Dr. Spalding is appointed Vicar-General — The Louisville 

“ League”— His Labors as a Lecturer and Preacher, . . 95 

CHAPTER IX. 

Popular Objections to the Church— Dr. Spalding’s Manner of 

Answering them, . Iot) 












3 


Contents . 


rACK 

CHAPTER X. 

Appointed Bishop of Lengone, in Part. Infid., and Coadjutor of 
Bishop Flaget—Death of Bispiop Flaget—State of the Dio¬ 
cese at the Time of Dr. Spalding’s Consecration, . . .118 

CHAPTER XI. 

State of the Diocese, continued—Bishop Spalding’s first Visi¬ 
tation—The Early Catholics of Kentucky, . . . .131 

CHAPTER XII. 

Retreat of the Clergy—Building of the Cathedral in Louis¬ 
ville—Division of the Diocese—The First Plenary Council 
of Baltimore—Desire to secure the Services of a teaching 
Brotherhood,.144 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Visit to Europe—The Xaverian Brothers—The American Col¬ 
lege at Louvain,.158 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Religion and Nationalism—The Know-Nothing Conspiracy— 

“ Bloody Monday,”. 174 


CHAPTER XV. 

The “ Miscellanea ”—Controversy with Professor Morse, . . i 83 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Tiie Provincial Councils of Cincinnati—The Common-School 

System.200 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Diocesan Affairs—Traits of Character—Correspondence with 

Archbishop Kenrick,.216 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

History of the Reformation—Views on the Duties of Ecclesi¬ 
astics in their Relations with the State—Episcopal Labors, 230 


CHAPTER XIX. 

The Civil War and the Church in Kentucky—State of the Dio¬ 
cese of Louisville—Bishop Spalding is appointed to the See 
of Baltimore.. 







C071 tents. 


9 


PAGE 

CHAPTER XX. 

Archbishop Spalding takes Possession of His New Charge—Sum¬ 
mary of Important Facts in the History of the Archdiocese 
of Baltimore,.257 


CHAPTER XXI. 

Af.chbishop Spalding’s First Works in the Diocese of Baltimore 
—The Syllabus—The Sixth Synod of Baltimore—Corre¬ 
spondence on Various Subjects,.2C9 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Suffering People of the South—The Diocese of Charles¬ 
ton—The Catholic Protectory—Sermon at the ^University 


of Notre Dame.285 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore,.29S 

CHAPTER XXIV. 


Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, continued—Appointment 

of Bishops—Parochial Rights—Catholic University, . . 310 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Past, the Present, and the Future,.321 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Emancipated Slaves—The Catholic Publication Society— 

The Centenary of the Martyrdom of St. Peter, . . -337 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Travels in Europe—Ireland—Progress of the Church in the 

Archdiocese of Baltimore—The American College in Rome, 35 ° - 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Dangers that Threaten the Destruction of our Free Insti¬ 
tutions—The Remedy—The Craving for Sensuous Indul¬ 
gence, .3^2. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

Death of the Very Rev. B. J. Spalding—Visitation of the Dio¬ 
cese —The Little Sisters of the Poor—The Vatican Council, 37 j 





TO 


Contents. 


CHAPTER XXX. 

The Vatican Council—The Postulatum of Archbishop Spalding 
—Letter to Bishop Dupanloup,. 

CHAPTER XXXL 

The Definition of Papal Infallibility not only Opportune, but 
Necessary—Devotion of the American Church to the Holy 
See. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

The Manner in which the Discussions of the Vatican Council 
were Conducted—The Infallibility of the Pope—Liberty 
and Liberalism—Tour in Switzerland,. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The Sacrilegious Invasion of Rome—Archbishop Spalding Re¬ 
turns Home— His Reception in Baltimore and Washington 
City— A Retrospect,. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Last Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding, . 


Index, 


rAGF. 


387 


404 


416 


430 


449 


461 






Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


CHAPTER I. 

ANCESTRY.—PARENTAGE.—BIRTH.—EARLY EDUCATION. 

HE ancestors of Martin John Spalding belonged 
to the band of Catholic Pilgrims who, fleeing 
from religious persecution in England, founded 
the Maryland Colony in 1634, fourteen years 
after the landing of the Puritans at Plymouth. 

If the Spaldings were not among the two hundred families 
who came over with Lord Baltimore in 1634, they certainly 
arrived in Maryland very soon after the first settlement had 
been made. In a letter on this subject, written in 1871, 
Archbishop Spalding says : 

“ It is certain that the Spaldings of Maryland were fully 
established in St. Mary’s County before the year 1650; for 
deeds and other papers of that date in their name are still 
found in Leonardtown; though, if I mistake not, an acci¬ 
dent of fire destroyed some of the documents. I incline to 
think that they came some years before this date, proba¬ 
bly in the early commencement of the colony, very shortly 
after the arrival of the first ship of emigrants. ... I 
believe that the headquarters of the family in England was 
Lincolnshire, where one of them at a very early period 
founded and gave his name to the great Abbey of Spalding, 
one of the thirteen great abbeys of. England spared by 
Henry VIII., but confiscated under his son, Edward VI. I 













12 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


think, from my researches, and from whatever knowledge I 
may have in such matters, that the town of Spalding grew up 
around and under the fostering influence of this abbey.”* 
Archbishop Spalding’s ancestors were not all of English 
origin ; for through his great-grandmother, Ellen O’Brian, 
he received a tinge of Celtic blood, to which he was very 
fond of alluding. 

Ellen O’Brian was a woman of strong character and 
of more than ordinary intelligence. She married Samuel 

* The town of Spalding existed already in the reign of Ethelbald, a.d. 
71:6—757; for in Ethelbald’s foundation-charter for the Monastery of Crow- 
land, its lands are said to extend in one direction “ tisque ccdifcid Spaldeling.” 
The name is most probably of Anglo-Saxon origin. 

As a patronymic, the name has existed from an early period in English 
history, as the following citations will show: 

“ Henry de Walpol sold lands by deed, sans date, to John de Spalding 
(Burgess of Lenn), in Tyrington, and sealed, as by his deed appears, with a 
Fesse between two Chevrons, about 51 Henry III.” (a.d. 1267).— Collins' 
Peerage , vol. v. p. 32. 

“West Hall Manor, Denver, Norfolk. In ninth of Edward II. (a.d. 1316), 
Peter de Spalding was Lord, and presented to the Meediety of St. Michael’s 
of Denver as Lord of this Manor.”— Blomfield's History of the County of 
Norfolk, England, vol. vii. p. 316. 

Blomfield also says: “ Peter Spalding sold his part or Manor (having 
enfranchised several villeins) to Sir John Howard, the elder,” vol. ix. p. 87. 

In 1318, Sir Pierce Spalding commanded Berwick Castle, and delivered it 
up to the Earl of Murray. In Blomfield’s History of the County of Norfolk, 
town of Brockdish, there is a description of the church: “In 1518, Henry 
Bakenham was buried in this church, as were many of the Spaldings, 
Withes, Howards, Grices, Tendrings, and Lawrences, families of distinction 
in this town.” The Maryland Spaldings were related to at least one branch 
of the Fenwicks, an old English Catholic family which came over with Lord 
Baltimore, and has given to the church in this country two bishops and 
several zealous priests. Mother Catherine Spalding, first mother of the 
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Ky., and foundress of the orphan asylum in 
Louisville, and Mother Hardey, Assistant General ot the Order of the Sacred 
Heart, whose mother was a Spalding, both belong to the Maryland branch 
of the famil}\ 


A ncestry . 


13 


Abell, a Protestant, who was high-sheriff of St. Mary’s 
County at a time when a Catholic could not hold office 
without taking the test oath, which was equivalent to 
renouncing his faith. He allowed his wife to bring up her 
daughters in her own faith, but strongly protested against 
any attempt to make Catholics of his sons. The Assembly 
had, in 1704, passed a new law, entitled “ An act to prevent 
the increase of Popery in the province,’ 7 which forbade 
bishops and priests to say Mass or exercise any of the 
functions of their ministry, and thus suppressed all public 
Catholic w r orship. Samuel Abell, therefore, had little 
opportunity to know whether or not his sons held the 
faith of their mother. He, of course, took it for granted 
that they would be too wise to unite themselves with a 
church which was persecuted and despised. When his 
oldest son, Philip, had grown to manhood, lie took him to 
Leonardtown, to Have him sworn in as deputy sheriff. 
What was his surprise when Philip refused downright to 
take the oath, saying publicly before the whole court that 
it would choke him. However, there was no remedy. The 
blood of Ellen O’Brian was strong in the boy, and the 
father, finding that neither threats nor persuasion would 
move him from his set purpose, finally consented to let 
him have his way; and he himself gradually lost his preju¬ 
dices, and on his death-bed sent for a priest, and died in 
communion with the church. 

Robert, another son of Samuel Abell, moved to Kentucky 
in 1788, and was a delegate to the convention which framed 
the State constitution, and the only Catholic in that body. 
As in those days log-cabins were the best hotels the com¬ 
monwealth could provide, Robert Abell, during the ses¬ 
sions of the convention, occupied the same room with Fe¬ 
lix Grundy, a well-known lawyer of Kentucky, and another 
delegate who had been a Presbyterian preacher. 


14 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

Each member had the right to present to the conven¬ 
tion a draught of the constitution which he wished to see 
adopted, and those provisions which should meet with the 
approval of a majority of the members were to become a 
part of the law of the land. One day, the ex-preacher read 
to his two companions a clause which he had inserted in his 
draught, which ran as follows : “ And be it further pro¬ 
vided, that no Papist or Roman Catholic shall hold any 
office of profit or trust in this commonwealth.” Felix 
Grundy at once took his pen, and placed the following clause 
in the draught which he proposed to present to the conven¬ 
tion : “ And be it also provided, that no broken-down 

Presbyterian preacher shall be eligible to any office in this 
commonwealth.” The preacher was converted, and the 
constitution of Kentucky placed no restriction upon reli¬ 
gious liberty.* 

Alethia Abell, the sister of Robert, and the daughter of 
Ellen O’Brian, was the grandmother of Martin Spalding. 

His grandfather, Benedict Spalding, brought out a colony 
of Catholics from St. Mary’s County in Maryland, in 1790, 
and settled in Central Kentucky, in the valley of a small 
river called the Rolling Fork. No Catholics are known to 
have emigrated to Kentucky before 1775. In that year, 
William Coomes, with his family and Dr. Hart, both Catho¬ 
lics, settled in Harrod’s Station, which was then, with the 
exception of one or two small forts, the only place in the 
“ Dark and Bloody Ground ” where a white man could call 
his scalp his own. The first Catholic colony which came out 
to Kentucky was that which accompanied the Haydons and 
Lancasters in 1785. This colony settled in and around 
Bardstown, which then became and for many years re¬ 
mained the centre of Catholicity in the State. The chief 

* This incident was related to a son of Robert Abell by Felix Grundy 
himself. 


Pai'entage. 


*5 


causes which determined the Catholics of Maryland to seek 
what was then the “ far West” were the hope of finding a 
more healthy climate and a soil which would better remu¬ 
nerate them for their toil. The report made by the pioneer 
colony awakened a greater desire in those who remained 
behind to emigrate, and other colonies came out in 1786, 
1787, and 1788. The Archbishop’s grandfather, as I have 
stated, removed to Kentucky in 1790. He had married 
Alethia Abell in Maryland. God blessed them with six 
sons and six daughters, all of whom grew up to be men and 
women, married, and, with a single exception, lived to be 
quite old. Their descendants constitute to-day one of the 
most numerous families in Kentucky. 

Richard Spalding, the eldest son of Benedict, was the 
father of the Archbishop. He was born in St. Mary’s 
County, Maryland, and came to Kentucky with his father. 
He was thrice married, and by these unions became the 
father of twenty-one children. He was a man of fine sense, 
of great industry and perseverance, and, in spite of his nu¬ 
merous family, to which he gave the best education it 
was possible to obtain in Kentucky in that day, he became 
wealthy. 

The Archbishop’s mother was Henrietta Hamilton, who 
was also born in Maryland, having come out to Kentucky 
with her father, Leonard Hamilton, in 1791, when still a 
mere child. 

When Father Badin arrived, in 1794, he estimated the 
Catholic population of the State at three hundred families. 
Among the first stations which he attended for the purpose 
of saying Mass and administering the sacrament was the 
one on the Rolling Fork, near where Archbishop Spalding’s 
grandfather and father were then living. A little later, in 
1797, Father Fournier, another French priest, who had 
come to the assistance of Father Badin, bought a hundred 


16 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


acres of ground in this neighborhood, and built there a log- 
cabin, of which he took possession in 1798. Holy Mary’s 
Convent of Lorettine Nuns now stands on this spot. 

Kentucky was in that day covered with dense forests and 
tangled woods. There was scarcely a place in its whole 
territory that might be dignified with the name of village, 
and the only roads were the almost untrodden paths of the 
forest, on either side of which lines of blazed trees showed 
the traveller the route from point to point. 

The forests were filled with a luxuriant undergrowth, 
thickly interspersed with cane and briers, which the inter¬ 
twining wild pea-vine wove into an almost impenetrable 
net-work; so that, in certain parts, the only way of getting 
from place to place was to follow the paths worn by the 
migrating buffalo and other wild beasts., The Indian still 
hunted on the “ Dark and Bloody Ground,” or prowled 
about the new settlements, ready to attack them whenever 
an opportunity was offered. It has been stated on good 
authority that, from 1783 to 1790, fifteen hundred persons 
were killed or made captive by the Indians in Kentucky, 
or in migrating thither.* 

I11 1794, the Indians appeared on the Rolling Fork, and 
killed a Catholic by the name of Buckman. This produced 
a panic in the little settlement which caused many Catholics 
to move for a time to Bardstown, where the population was 
more dense. But Benedict Spalding remained at home, and 
the Indians disappeared without committing further outrage. 

The early emigrants to Kentucky had to endure all the 
hardships incident to pioneer life. Even the ordinary com¬ 
forts were not to be had in the wilderness in which they 
had taken up their abode, and they not unfrequently ' suf¬ 
fered the want of the most indispensable necessaries. To 

* Judge Jones, of Kentucky, states this in a letter written to Secretary 
Knox, July 7, 1790. 


Parentage . 


17 


obtain salt, they had to go to the Licks , travelling often 
many miles through a country infested by savages. They- 
dwelt in rudely constructed log-cabins, the windows of 
which were without glass, whilst the floors were of dirt, 
or, in the better sort of dwellings, of rough-hewn boards.. 
After the clothing which they had brought from Virginia 
and Maryland became unfit for use, the men, for the most 
part, wore buckskin and the women homespun gowns. The- 
furniture of the cabins was of an equally simple kind.. 
Stools did the office of chairs, the tables were made of 
rough boards, whilst wooden vessels served instead of plates 
and china-ware. A tin cup was an article of luxury. The 
chase supplied abundance of food. All kinds of game 
abounded, and, when the hunter had his rifle and a goodly 
supply of ammunition, he was rich as a prince. This was 
the school in which was trained the Kentucky rifleman, 
whose aim on the battle-field was certain death. The game- 
was plainly dressed and served up on wooden platters, and, 
with corn-bread and hominy, it made a feast which the 
keen appetite of honest labor and free-heartedness thought*, 
good enough for kings. 

“ Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum 
Splendet in mensa tenui salinum 
Nec leves somnos timor aut cupido 
Sordidus aufert.” 

“ Such was the simple manner of life,” said Archbishop* 
Spalding, “ of our ‘ Pilgrim Fathers.’ They had fewer 
luxuries, but were, withal, perhaps happier than their more- 
fastidious descendants. Hospitality was not then an empty 
name. Every log-cabin was freely thrown open to all who. 
chose to share in the best cheer its inmates could afford..^ 
The early settlers of Kentucky were bound together by 
the strong ties of common hardships and dangers, to say 


18 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

nothing of other bonds of union, and they clung together 
with great tenacity. On the slightest alarm of Indian in¬ 
vasion, they made common cause, and flew to the rescue. 
There was less selfishness and more generous chivalry, less 
bickering and more cordial charity, then than now, not¬ 
withstanding all our boasted refinement.”* 

Old men love to praise the bygone age, when they were 
boys, by a sweet reversion to childhood, forgetting the evil 
and remembering only the good of the morning of life : 
and all find a certain pleasure in carping at the present by 
contrasting it with the seeming more perfect past.- But 
making allowance for this proneness of our nature, there 
was doubtless in the society of those early days in Ken¬ 
tucky rare beauty and goodness. The men were brave and 
honest, the women were pure and gentle; and these virtues 
sat so naturally upon them that they seemed unconscious 
of them, as not contemplating a contrary state. They* 
sometimes lent money without note or witness, and this 
implicit trust to what is best in human nature was rarely 
•ever betrayed. They were truly hospitable, they were 
kind-hearted, and they loved liberty in the highest sense of 
the word. 

This state of primitive republican society had not yet 
disappeared at the time of the birth of Martin John Spald¬ 
ing, which took place on the 23d of May, 1810. He was 
born on the Rolling Fork, in sight of the farm on which 
his grandfather had settled upon his arrival in Kentucky 
twenty years before this date. He was baptized by Fa¬ 
ther Nerincks, of whose apostolical life and labors he was 
destined to become the historian. He was a frail, delicate 
child, and so subject to frequent attacks of sickness that it 
was not thought he could long survive. His mother, who 


* Sketches of Kentucky, p. 33. 


Birth . 


19 


was noted for the purity and gentleness of her character, 
and whom he very much resembled, both in feature and 
disposition, manifested, probably on account of his weak and 
suffering condition, greater tenderness for him than for her 
other children. She always called him her little bishop. 
He had the great misfortune to lose her when but five 
or six years old. After her death, he was confided to 
the care of his oldest sister, who was still a mere girl. She 
was assisted in the performance of her responsible duties by 
the wise counsel of her grandmother, Alethia Spalding, the 
daughter of Samuel Abell and Ellen O’Brian. 

Alethia Spalding was remarkable both for great beauty 
and for great holiness. Even Protestants thought her a 
saint; and Father Badin, who knew her well, used to say, 
after her death, that she was certainly in heaven. 

In those days, when Mass was said at the different stations 
only once a month, or at most once in two weeks, she was 
in the habit, whenever the priest was absent from Holy 
Mary’s, of going on horseback a distance of six or eight 
miles to Lebanon, to assist at the holy sacrifice there. On 
these occasions, she always took one of her grandchildren, 
frequently Martin, behind her on her little gray mare ; and 
she never failed to sanctify the journey by reciting the 
rosary with her little travelling companion. 

Of the seven children of Richard Spalding who had the 
example of her virtues so constantly before their eyes, two 
became priests, and two took the veil in the Convent of 
Loretto. 

Bishop Carroll wrote of the early Catholic colonists of 
Kentucky that they were in general good, and that some of 
them were eminent in virtue. 

Their religious character was certainly earnest and pro¬ 
found. They were not puritanical, which Catholics, I be¬ 
lieve, never are; but their faith was strong and healthful, 


20 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


and their attachment to Catholic truth unwavering. As an 
instance of this, I may state that, towards the close of the 
last century, when it seemed impossible to get priests to 
remain in Kentucky, many of the Catholic colonists deter¬ 
mined to remove to Missouri, induced by the offer of the 
Spanish governor to secure them the opportunity of comply¬ 
ing with their religious obligations. A committee had been 
appointed, and had gone to St. Louis to confer with the 
governor, when Bishop Carroll finally succeeded in sending 
a priest to Kentucky, which led to the abandonment of the 
project of removing the colony to Missouri. Their solici¬ 
tude to preserve the faith of their children was equally 
great, evidences of which may be seen in the Catholic 
schools and colleges which they founded and supported, 
and in the care with which they avoided mixed marriages. 
Of the twelve children of Benedict Spalding, all of whom 
married, not one, in the first instance, married a Protestant. 

Their opposition to intermarrying with Protestant fami¬ 
lies led them not unfrequently to approve of the marriage 
of blood relations, as the lesser of two evils. Their objec¬ 
tion to mixed marriages did not proceed from any unfriendly 
feeling towards Protestants, which did not exist, but from 
the conviction that difference of faith in the father and 
mother could not but have a bad effect upon the religious 
character of the children. 

Martin Spalding was sent to school, when about eight 
years old, to a Mr. Merry wether, whose college was a log- 
cabin in the backwoods near the Rolling Fork. 

His earliest intellectual feat was learning the multiplica¬ 
tion-table in a single day when but eight years old. He 
was even then as remarkable for the sweetness of his dispo¬ 
sition as for the quickness of his mind. He made his first 
communion when only ten years old, which is worthy of 
remark when we consider that he had never been to a 


Early Education . 


21 


Catholic school, and had but on rare occasions received in¬ 
struction from a priest. 

The year in which he made his first communion, 1820, 
was the one in which the first Catholic college was founded 
in Kentucky. This was St. Joseph’s College, at Bards- 
town. 

The year following, the Rev. William Byrne opened St. 
Mary’s College, near Lebanon, and among the very first 
students who entered that institution were Martin Spalding 
and his two older brothers. The founding of St. Mary’s 
College is an instance of what energy and zeal may enable 
God’s priest to accomplish. When the project first pre¬ 
sented itself to Father Byrne’s mind, he had neither men 
nor money, and without these it was not thought possible 
to establish a college. But he was a man to whom nothing 
that was right seemed impossible. “ Viam aut inveniam 
aut faciam,” was his motto, and his faith in God and in the 
power of labor gave him strength to triumph over difficul¬ 
ties which would have appalled weaker and less believ¬ 
ing men. He bought a farm, on which stood an old stone 
distillery. To pay for this, he asked contributions from the 
Catholics of the country, and since they had but little 
money, he took produce or whatever they were able to 
give, which, with great dela/ and difficulty, he converted 
into cash. 

The next step was to transform the old distillery into an 
academy of learning. He himself put his hand to the work, 
and became carpenter or mason as circumstances demanded. 
When everything was in readiness, he offered to furnish 
education in return for wheat, corn, and bacon. This plan, 
which was perfectly adapted to the wants of the commu¬ 
nity, could not fail of success. When at length, in the early 
spring of 1821, the anxiously expected day for the opening 
of St. Mary’s Seminary arrived, it was filled to overflowing. 


22 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Father Byrne was president, disciplinarian, prefect, trea¬ 
surer, and professor. 

The seminary soon became known for its strict discipline 
and the moral and literary advancement of its pupils, and, 
in consequence, it grew in public favor. 

Father Byrne had paid his debts, and had nearly com¬ 
pleted another building for the accommodation of a greater 
number of students, when, during his absence in Louisville, 
the college was consumed by fire. 

“ We well remember,” says Archbishop Spalding, in his 
Sketches of Kentucky , “ the sadness which sat upon his 
brow when the next day he rode into the enclosure and 
beheld the smouldering ruins of what had cost him years 
of anxious toil. Yet the suddenness of the shock did not 
unnerve him—it gave him new energy. In a few short 
months, St. Mary’s Seminary rose from its ashes fresher and 
more beautiful than before.” 

A second time St. Mary’s was burned to the ground, and 
again Father Byrne rebuilt it, and finally succeeded in plac¬ 
ing it on a firm and enduring foundation. In his difficul¬ 
ties, Father Byrne found a warm friend in Richard Spalding, 
the father of the Archbishop, who was very desirous of pro¬ 
curing for his children a good education. He offered to 
give Father Byrne one hundred acres of ground, and other¬ 
wise to assist him, if he would remove the college to Holy 
Mary’s ; but Bishop Flaget did not think it advisable to 
change the location. 


CHAPTER II. 


PROFESSOR AT ST. MARY’S COLLEGE—ENTERS THE SEMI¬ 
NARY AT BARDSTOWN—IS SENT TO ROME. 

ARTIN SPALDING was Father Byrne’s favorite 
pupil. When the college was destroyed by fire, 
Martin did not return home with his brothers, 
but continued his studies with Father Byrne, 
and, upon the reopening of the school, he was made profes¬ 
sor of mathematics, though he was but fourteen years old. 
He was at this time a slender, delicate boy, soft and gentle 
as a girl, and to a remarkably bright and quick mind added 
a disposition so sweet that no one could help loving him. 
He soon became quite famous as professor of mathematics, 
and Father Byrne was persuaded that no problem could be 
proposed to him which he would not be able to solve. He 
made this boast to the county surveyor, who, in reply, said 
that he thought he could give Martin a question in survey¬ 
ing which would puzzle him. Father Byrne desired that 
the proficiency of his youthful professor should be put to 
the test, and the problem was accordingly proposed. Mar¬ 
tin asked for time to consider it, and in a short while re¬ 
turned with the answer. 

A certain Mr. Dougherty, who was at this time professor 
of mathematics in St. Joseph’s College, had great contempt 
for the reputation of the boy-professor of St. Mary’s, and 
he boasted that he would put him to shame. With this 
view, he went to the next examination at St. Mary’s, and 
proposed questions to the class of mathematics which he 
was confident not even the professor would be able to 




24 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


solve. But Martin each time came to the rescue of his stu¬ 
dents, and triumphantly explained every difficulty. 

Father Byrne had unbounded admiration for Martin’s 
talents, and, whenever he spoke of him, he grew eloquent 
in extolling his high endowments. The great highway be¬ 
tween Louisville and Nashville in those days passed within 
two or three miles of St. Mary’s College, and such was, as 
I have heard from the lips of the oldest living priest in 
Kentucky, the reputation which Martin had gained, that 
travellers sometimes went out of their way to see this won¬ 
derful boy-professor. 

His friends feared lest the flattery and attention which 
he received might spoil him ; and that he came out of this 
ordeal unscathed is perhaps one of the greatest proofs of 
the thorough worth and genuine strength of his character. 
Success and applause could not destroy in him that child¬ 
like simplicity which continued through life to be one of his 
greatest charms. 

When he left Kentucky, at the age of twenty, to go to 
Rome, there was probably no one in the State who was 
superior to him in the knowledge of mathematics ; and, 
though he never after paid any attention to this science, he 
never ceased to be ready at accounts, and quick to under¬ 
stand problems in which mathematical calculations were 
involved. As a student at St. Mary’s, he was noted for 
his application and his eager desire to learn. He never 
allowed others to assist him in solving the difficulties which 
presented themselves, but wished to be indebted to his own 
industry alone for his triumph over them. He was also, as 
I have said, distinguished for his gentle and loving disposi¬ 
tion. In a game of foot-ball, Martin had unintentionally 
done something which provoked a boy much larger than 
himself to insult him and to threaten to strike him. One 
of his cousins who happened to be standing near interfered, 


Enters the Seminary at Bardsiown. 


25 


and was on the point of punishing the boy, when Martin at 
once stopped him, saying that he was able to take care of 
himself, and that he could not upon any account consent to 
be the occasion of angry words or blows. The person who 
related this little incident to me added that the noble and 
Christian bearing of Martin Spalding at that time had made 
an impression upon him which the lapse of many years had 
not effaced. 

He remained five years at St. Mary’s, and graduated with 
great honor in 1826. Though but sixteen years old, he had 
already resolved to consecrate his life to the service of God 
in the priesthood. 

He spent the summer vacations at home, and at their 
close he entered the seminary at Bardstown as a student of 
theology. 

The year in which he began the study of theology is one 
which is still associated with the happiest memories in the 
minds of some of the older Catholics of Kentucky. It was 
the year of grace, the year of the great Jubilee, which, pro¬ 
mulgated by Leo XII. in 1825, was preached in Kentucky 
only in 1826. The entire Catholic population of Kentucky 
seems to have been awakened to new life and fervor during 
this holy season. The priests who were engaged in preach¬ 
ing this Jubilee drew up a full account of the fruits of their 
labors, which they transmitted to the Association of the 
Propagation of the Faith, in France. 

“ During the week of the Jubilee,” these eye-witnesses 
relate, “ all temporal affairs seemed to be forgotten, and only 
those of the soul were attended to. As the greater part of 
the Catholics came from a distance of eight, ten, or twelve 
miles, they remained during the whole day in the church, 
without leaving it even for a moment, except to take a 
frugal repast on the grass or in the neighboring wood. Not 
only did the laborers and farmers, who constituted the ma- 


26 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


jority of the Catholics, give these beautiful examples of 
religious fervor, but persons of every condition—merchants, 
physicians, magistrates, legislators—showed themselves 
equally eager to profit by the graces of heaven. Human 
respect, so powerful under other circumstances, had given 
place to more noble sentiments, and all seemed eager to 
give open and public evidence of their strong attachment 
to a religion which was the only source of their consolation 
and their happiness. Such was the edifying spectacle which 
Kentucky presented during those days of benediction. 
Perhaps the fruits of the Jubilee were more abundant here 
than in any other part of the Christian world, if we take 
into account the small number of Catholics in this diocese.’' 

This was the first time that the Catholics of the great West 
had been called upon to unite with their brethren through¬ 
out Christendom in the solemn prayer of the Jubilee, and 
the novelty of the exercises had doubtless something to do 
with the readiness with which they responded to the voice 
of the Holy Father; but, apart from this, we cannot but 
recognize in their fervor and zeal evidences of great 
religious earnestness and of true piety. The heart of the 
venerable Bishop Flaget was touched by the devotion and 
good-will of his people. 

“ With what pleasure,” he wrote, “ have I entered upon 
this apostolic career! If the consolations which I now 
feel, go on increasing, they will afford me happiness enough 
for this life.” 

The Diocesan Seminary, in Kentucky, was established at 
St. Thomas’s almost immediately after the arrival of Bishop 
Flaget and Father David ; but when the new cathedral was 
consecrated in 1819, it was removed to Bardstown, the 
Bishop wishing, as far as possible, to live among his semi¬ 
narians as a father in his family. The Sunday following the 
dedication of the cathedral, Father David received the 


Enters the Seminary at Bardstown. 


27 


episcopal consecration at the hands of Bishop Flaget, and 
became his coadjutor. The two bishops had rooms in the 
seminary ; they ate at the same table with the seminarians, 
and took part in all the exercises of the community. 

The day after the opening of the new seminary, Bishop 
Flaget wrote : “ This day will for,m an epoch in the history 
of the church in Kentucky ; for I dare hope that from this 
house will go forth priests who will sustain and propagate 
the faith.” And a few years later, when this hope had been 
in part fulfilled, he added : “ Many priests have already 

been reared in the seminary, and their piety and talents 
would distinguish them even in Europe. Some of them are 
excellent preachers and very good controversialists.” 

When Martin Spalding entered the seminary, in 1826, he 
found there a body of men equal to any in the church of 
the United States to-day. 

First of all, there was Bishop Flaget, who, though not 
remarkable for theological ability, was a model bishop, and 
the type of a true missionary. He had a heart as tender as 
a woman’s, and a character so perfectly formed after the 
model given by his divine Master that he himself was a 
living example of all that the young Levites who were 
gathered at his feet were to aspire to. The master, he was 
as the servant; the bishop, he was in garb and bearing as 
his humblest priest. When he spoke to them, he could, 
without mockery, bid them be self-denying, poverty-lov¬ 
ing, humble, lowly in their walk ; for such he was. The 
children of his apostolic love grew up to be the crown and 
honor of his old age, and the pride of the church of Ken¬ 
tucky. 

Then there was Bishop David, less expansive and less 
demonstrative of affection than Bishop Flaget, but a man of 
the soundest judgment and of great learning, and, above 
all, a thorough disciplinarian. Francis Patrick Kenrick was 


28 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


also there, fresh from the Propaganda, already then the 
most learned theologian, as he was destined afterwards to 
become the brightest ornament of the American Church. 
For him Martin Spalding at once conceived the highest 
admiration, which soon ripened into a friendship which 
during many succeeding years remained unshaken, until, 
when his early friend had been removed to a better world, 
he was destined to succeed him as the head of the first and 
oldest see of the United States. 

There, too, was Father Reynolds, afterwards the successor 
of Bishop England in the see of Charleston—a man of pro¬ 
found thought, and an orator. 

The Rev. George Elder, the founder and first President 
of St. Joseph’s College, whose character was as lovely and 
gentle as his mind was cultivated and refined, completes 
the group of remarkable men whom Martin Spalding found 
at Bardstown in 1826. 

At that time, the seminary was connected with St. 
Joseph’s College, and the seminarians were required to 
teach and perform other duties in the college. Archbishop 
Spalding, in his Life of Bishop Flaget, says that this state 
of things had its advantages, but that they were probably 
more than counterbalanced by the inconveniences neces¬ 
sarily attendant upon such a system. The vocations of 
some of the seminarians were shaken by this intimate con¬ 
tact with youths of the world, while scarcely a candidate 
for the ministry was obtained from among those who were 
educated in the college. This, of course, greatly distressed 
Bishop Flaget, who made use of every means to correct the 
evil, and finally established at St. Thomas’s a preparatory 
seminary for young men who gave indication of a vocation 
to the ecclesiastical state. 

Martin Spalding remained in Bardstown four years, divid¬ 
ing his time between the study of philosophy and theology 


Is sent to Rome. 


29 


and the duties of a professor in the college. He soon 
proved that he possessed an aptitude for theology and lan¬ 
guages scarcely less remarkable than that which he had 
shown for mathematics whilst teaching at St. Mary’s. His 
talents and exemplary conduct won for him such favor in 
the eyes of Bishop Flaget that, at the end of four years, 
he determined to send him to Rome to complete his theo¬ 
logical studies in the Urban College. 

After the high privilege of a vocation to the priesthood, 
Martin Spalding deemed it the most fortunate circumstance 
in his life that he was permitted to finish his theological 
education in the Holy City, where he drank in all the 
sacred doctrines and traditions of the Christian religion at 
their fountain-head. His eagerness to go to Rome whs in¬ 
creased by his admiration of Dr. Kenrick, who had studied 
there; and his conversation, and the glowing pictures which 
he drew of the advantages offered in the Eternal City to 
the aspirant to theological science, helped to influence 
Bishop Flaget to send the young Kentuckian to the Propa¬ 
ganda. 

The clergy of the diocese of Bardstown were not, how¬ 
ever, of one opinion concerning the advantages of a Roman 
education. Some held that the habits of thought and 
action which young Americans would be likely to acquire 
during a course of studies in Rome would not be such as 
to fit them in the best manner for fulfilling with success 
the duties of missionaries in the backwoods of Kentucky. 
From this opinion, as we shall hereafter see from his letters 
written from Rome, Martin Spalding wholly dissented. 

He set out on his journey to Rome, in company with 
James Lancaster, in April, 1830. 

A few days after his arrival in Baltimore, he wrote the 
following letter to his father: 


30 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


“ Dear Father: 

“Your parental solicitude makes you anxious, I am sure, 
to hear from a son whom you so tenderly love. When I 
left you, dear father, I did not expect to go to Baltimore ; 
but in Louisville we met with Colonel Brent, a former mem¬ 
ber of Congress from Louisiana, who was on his way to 
Washington City, and who informed us that it would be 
safer for us to accompany him thither, as we might other¬ 
wise find difficulty in obtaining our passports. We also 
learned from him that Commodore Porter had been recently 
appointed Minister to Algiers, and was expected in a short 
time to sail out to the Mediterranean in a vessel belonging 
to the navy, in which we, in all probability, would be able 
to obtain passage by applying at Washington. Since our 
arrival here, John Rowan has been very active in his efforts 
to obtain this favor for us, and Major Barry has likewise 
taken an interest in the matter. In Washington, we were 
hospitably entertained by the Rev. Mr. Mathews; and, 
after visiting the public buildings, we left for Baltimore in 
the company of the Rev. Mr. Hughes, of Philadelphia. I 
conclude, dear father, by giving expression to my love for 
you, and my gratitude for the great regard which you have 
ever shown for my true welfare. I trust that your hope in 
me will be realized, and that I shall become a zealous 
priest, and one eminently useful to the church. Do you, 
dear father, continue to comply with all your religious 
duties, especially that of bringing up your family in the 
love and fear of God.’' 

On the following day, the first of May, he wrote to his 
old professor, Dr. Kenrick, who had just been appointed to 
the see of Philadelphia : 

“ Right Reverend and Dear Friend : 

“ The style of my address is expressive at once of your pro- 


Is sent to Rome . 


3i 


motion and of my sincere affection for you. You have doubt¬ 
less ere this heard of your appointment to the Bishopric of 
Philadelphia, since you have probably received the bulls sent 
you by the Archbishop of Baltimore. I congratulate the 
church upon your elevation, and hope that you will receive 
the burden cheerfully, though I perfectly understand how 
ungrateful to you the intelligence of your promotion must 
have proved. What a sacrifice for the good Bishop of Ken¬ 
tucky ! Your appointment has excited great interest in Bal¬ 
timore and Washington. All speak of it as an era in the his¬ 
tory of the American Church. I have had the good fortune to 
meet with the Rev. Mr. Hughes. I handed him your letter, to 
which I am indebted for the kind manner in which he received 
me. He is a gentleman of the most polite and engaging man¬ 
ners, blending the amiable modesty and reserve of the priest 
with the easy deportment of the man of the world. He has, 
I think, a brilliant future before him. He introduced us to 
the professors of the seminary and college in Baltimore. In 
his company, I have been very pleasantly occupied in view¬ 
ing the various objects of interest here. We ascended 
together the monument erected by Catholic Maryland to 
the memory of Washington, from which we had a fine view 
of the city and its picturesque surroundings. I have also 
visited the charitable institutions of Baltimore, which do 
honor to the generosity and benevolence of the Catholics of 
Maryland, as also to the devoted zeal of the Sisters of 
Charity, who are so nobly employed in ministering to the 
suffering members of Christ. The Rev. Mr. Elder has 
introduced me to some relations here whose acquaintance 
has given me great pleasure. 

“ All seem anxious to be informed of every particular con¬ 
cerning the church in Kentucky. They wish especially to 
hear how the Rev. Mr. Abell stands as a preacher. Here 
in Baltimore he is considered an orator not unworthy of his 


32 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


native backwoods. I dined with the Archbishop at his 
invitation, and was received with great kindness. He has 
some pamphlets for Dr. Wiseman, of the English College in 
Rome, and he promises to give us letters of introduction to 
him. The Archbishop expects that you will be consecrated 
in Bardstown by Bishop Flaget. He asked me how the 
priests in Kentucky wore their hair, intending, as I per¬ 
ceived, to give a hint to the Rev. Mr.-He also asked 

me whether the Bishop of Bardstown approved of coats with 
straight collars like ours. When I replied in the affirmative, 
he informed me that in Maryland this is the distinctive mark 
of Methodist preachers. James Lancaster was actually mis¬ 
taken for one of these gentlemen on his way from Wash¬ 
ington to Baltimore ; whilst I was probably indebted to my 
youthful appearance for my escape from a like suspicion. 
The Rev. Mr. Pise, whose acquaintance I have made, is a 
very active young man, who is thought to possess great 
talent. He hopes that you will become a regular contribu¬ 
tor to the Metropolitan , now that you are to be so near the 
Rome of America.” 

Although these letters of our young Kentuckian, who had 
for the first time left his native woods, are not in themselves 
remarkable, they are yet not without interest, since they 
give us an insight into his character, and show the bent of his 
youthful thoughts and aspirations. His mind is eager for 
knowledge, and he has a keen eye for whatever has a bear¬ 
ing upon the all-absorbing object of his devotion—the 
church of God, to the service of which he has consecrated 
his life. The aspiring hopes of the young heart, untaught 
by disenchanting experience, and uncurbed by adversity, 
belong to him, but they all concentre in the church; and 
when visions of the future present themselves to his mind, 
and he beholds himself such as he hopes to be in after- 



Is sent to Rome . 


33 


years, the ideal present to his imagination is that of the 
“zealous and useful priest.” He proves himself not a bad 
judge of character when he predicts a brilliant future for 
the Rev. Mr. Hughes, who was as yet unknown to fame. 

He and his companion remained in Baltimore two weeks, 
anxiously waiting for Commodore Porter to sail, until at 
length, growing weary of delay, they determined to embark 
in a vessel bound for Gibraltar, which was to sail from Bal¬ 
timore on the 12th of May. 

On the eve of his departure, Martin wrote to Father 
Byrne, whom, of all his teachers and early associates, he 
most loved: 

“ Kind Guardian of my Youth : 

“ I write to you from the scene of your former trials and 
labors. To-morrow we shall commit ourselves to the mercy 
of the waves and the protection of Heaven, and, after having- 
passed through the purgatory of sea-sickness, we may get 
our sea-legs, and become, for aught we know, trusty sailors. 
The captain of the ship on which we are to sail is a Catholic 
and a gentleman of good standing here in Baltimore, of 
which he is a resident. We have been very kindly treated 
during our stay here. The Rev. Mr. Elder has shown us 
great attention. In manner he reminds me of yourself. 
Among other privileges, we have had the pleasure of seeing 
the venerable patriot, Charles Carroll, the last of our Revo¬ 
lutionary heroes. Though ninety-three years of age, he is 
quite vigorous and remarkably cheerful. He is still able, he 
says, to mount his horse and ride six or seven miles without 
great fatigue. 

“ It is a source of gratification to us to have received the 
good-will and benediction of the venerable patriot just on 
the eve of leaving our native land. I have seen some of 
your old friends in Baltimore. The Rev. Mr. Tessier is as 


34 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


mild and modest as when you knew him. He talks through 
his nose, laughs merrily, eats heartily, and is as innocent 
as a child. I went to confession to him, and I am much 
pleased with his character. The Rev. Mr. Damphoux is 
always the same eccentric, excellent person. 

“ When I view my present situation and the advantages 
which appear in every way to be offered to me for the com¬ 
pletion of my education, I naturally recur in thought to him 
who, under Providence, has been the cause of all my suc¬ 
cess, and the first link in the chain of my improvement. 
Believe me, then, dear father, when I say that I shall ever 
remain, with sincerest love, your devoted son.” 

Martin Spalding had completed his twentieth year two 
days before he set sail Tor Europe. Nearly half of his life 
had been passed at college or in the seminary, and his great 
application had somewhat weakened his naturally feeble 
constitution. This, however, did not at all discourage him ; 
he was still eager for work, and seemed never to doubt that 
God would give him strength to complete his education, 
and to become, as he expressed it, a zealous priest, and one 
eminently useful to the church. In person, he was slender, 
something above the average height, with a countenance 
which, for regularity of feature, softness of outline, and 
perfect purity of expression, might have passed for that of 
a beautiful girl. His character, too, was singularly affec¬ 
tionate and gentle ; his whole nature frank and confiding, 
unsuspicious of evil, because he himself was innocent. 

He had never, I think, felt even the shadow of a senti¬ 
mental attachment, but carried from the backwoods of the 
far West to the shrines of the apostles a virgin heart un¬ 
tainted by even the breath of passion. 

He had all the enthusiastic love of country which be¬ 
longed to the young Americans of that day, when the purity 


Is sent to Rome . 


35 


of republican manners had not been corrupted by the evil 
influences of wealth and luxury. To be an American citizen 
was, in his mind, the highest honor after that of being a 
Roman Catholic. He looked upon Charles Carroll, as we 
have seen, with a reverence akin to religion, because in him 
he beheld one of that band of patriots who, as he had been 
taught to believe, had risked everything in a cause only less 
sacred than that of Christ. But the dream of his soul was 
the church of God, the spouse of Christ, who is all fair, 
without spot or wrinkle; who, though old, is ever young;; 
and to this, his first love, he never in after-life proved 
untrue. 


CHAPTER III. 


STUDENT LIFE IN ROME. 

ARTIN SPALDING arrived in Cadiz on the 20th 
of June, 1830, after a voyage in which the mono¬ 
tony of sea-travel was not broken by any inci¬ 
dent worth recording. After waiting two weeks 
in Cadiz, he found a ship bound for Marseilles. He took 
passage on this vessel, which, he wrote, was laden with the 
relics of all the bull-fights that had taken place in Spain 
within the last ten years. Sailing through the Strait of 
Gibraltar, he beheld the opposing coasts of Europe and 
Africa. The favoring breeze filled the canvas, and the 
travellers expected to be in Marseilles within four or five 
days. But the winds fell asleep, and the ship was becalmed 
•off the coast of Spain for nearly a month. 

When Martin and his companion at length arrived in 
Marseilles, they embarked with as little delay as possible 
for Leghorn. But fortune was again adverse, and they 
were eight days in crossing the Mediterranean. From Leg¬ 
horn they proceeded to Florence, and, after visiting the 
churches and art-galleries of the Tuscan capital, continued 
their journey through Sienna, where they stopped to ad¬ 
mire the cathedral, and finally, in company with a Roman 
gentleman and his lady and two ferocious dogs, they arrived 
safely in the Eternal City on the 7th of August, just four 
months from the time they left home. We can hardly 
realize that a trip to Europe forty years ago could have 
Been attended with so many delays and difficulties. 

“ If travel have delights,” Martin wrote, shortly after he 






Sttident Life in Rome. 


37 


reached Rome, “ which compensate for its many vexations 
and disappointments, I certainly have not experienced 
them.’’ 

But steam has revolutionized the world, and brought us 
eight times nearer the central city of Catholic faith than our 
fathers were. 

The vacations were just beginning when Martin arrived in 
Rome, and he therefore went at once to the summer-house 
of the Propaganda, near Tivoli—one of the most delightful 
and picturesque spots in Italy. Here he applied himself to 
the study of Italian, and by the end of vacation he was able 
to speak it without much difficulty. 

In November, he returned to Rome, and entered upon 
the routine of Propaganda life. The students of this insti¬ 
tution are divided into companies or camerate, the members 
of one camerata being allowed no communication with those 
of another. 

In the camerata in which the young Kentuckian was 
placed, there were two Irishmen, two Germans, two Dutch¬ 
men, two Constantinopolitans, a Scotchman, a Dalmatian, 
an Albanian, and a Bulgarian. 

His studies were divided into four classes. In the morn¬ 
ing, he had church history and moral theology; in the after¬ 
noon, Hebrew and dogma. 

“ How full are my days,” he wrote, when he had got 
thoroughly to work, “ and how rapidly they pass! It is 
impossible to describe my happiness here in the Propaganda. 
The kind indulgence of my superiors, the cheerfulness and 
freedom encouraged in the students, the brilliant examples 
of piety and learning which I behold around me, the almost 
maternal care with which I am provided with whatever my 
health may require, the admirable facilities offered for the 
cultivation of heart and mind, all conduce to render me per¬ 
fectly happy, and to make me for ever grateful to those who 


38 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

have helped to procure me such blessings. My health, in¬ 
deed, was not good for a while, the fatigue of travel having 
proved injurious to me ; but God permitted me to be thus 
tried only to purify my intention, and to cause me to give 
myself wholly into his sacred keeping. I have made the act 
of entire self-abandonment, and my health is rapidly im¬ 
proving. I have every confidence that I shall be able to 
complete my studies, and to prepare myself to be of use to 
the church, to the service of whose altar I have been called, 
and to promote whose interests is the chief desire of my 
heart. Dear brother, let us unite in this glorious work. 
The vineyard is large, and the laborers are few.” 

A few months after his arrival in Rome, he received the 
following letter from Bishop Flaget, in which we perceive 
both the great piety and the affectionate character of that 
venerable man : 

“ My Dear Son : 

“ How I envy the happiness which you enjoyed when you 
entered into the Holy City ! 

“ Oh! what delight for me had I been in your company 
when you were presented to the Cardinal-Prefect, to the 
Rector and Professors of the college, and were received with 
such kindness! Many a time have I expressed my wish 
to visit the Limina Apostolorum, but my entreaties have 
proved vain. My lot is cast; Europe is not to be seen by me 
again; I am wedded to Kentucky. Here I must live; here 
I must die. The holy will of God be done. I submit to it 
with joy, since, by coming to Kentucky, I have been the 
occasion of your visiting the Holy City, where I hope you 
will drink in greater learning and piety than I could have 
ever acquired. The details you gave us in your letter of 
your fellow-students, of their different nationalities, manners, 
and colors, and yet all united in the same faith and in the 


Student Life in Rome . 


39 


reception of the same sacraments, were both entertaining 
and edifying. Yet we would have been glad to see what 
manner of countenance you put on when you sat by those 
black brothers of yours. My dear Martin was truly witty 
when he related how they administered a second baptism 
to him in the gardens of the Holy Father. His Eminence 
Cardinal Cappellari has written most favorably of you. For 
God’s sake, my dear son, do not frustrate the high expecta¬ 
tions of this venerable man and of your old Bishop, who has 
always loved you like an affectionate father. No doubt, in 
sending you to Rome, I had your own good in view; but I 
must confess, as I said to you before your departure, that 
the honor of our holy religion in Kentucky was the first 
object I had in contemplation in procuring for you the 
extraordinary advantages which you now enjoy. Study, 
then, my dearly beloved child, but study at the foot of the 
crucifix, having nothing in view but the glory of God, the 
sanctification and instruction of those who will one day be 
committed to your care, and your own perfection. Be 
punctual in the observance of your rules; .obey your supe¬ 
riors as you would obey Jesus Christ; be obliging and con¬ 
descending in your intercourse with your fellow-students; 
suffer not the mean vice of jealousy to enter your heart; 
bear with the failings of others as they have to bear with 
yours; respect national prejudices, customs, and usages, 
and do not quarrel with any one who does not entertain for 
your native land the high ideas which have been instilled 
into your heart from infancy; be more ready to praise than 
to blame ; bear with jokes, and take up daily your cross, and 
follow in the company of our blessed Saviour.” 

In a letter to his sister, who was a Lorettine nun, and 
who had made enquiry concerning the religious orders in 
Rome, he says: “ Nearly all the orders of the church are 


40 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


represented in Rome. The convents of women are very 
numerous. The Rector, however, tells me that there is no 
order of Lorettine nuns either in Rome or in Italy. We 
never see the nuns, as they are all cloistered ; but we see 
the friars every day, who are also quite numerous, and, in 
general, very exemplary. There are gray friars, and white 
friars, and black friars ; bearded friars, and shaven friars, and 
hooded friars; lean friars and fat friars; barefoot friars, and 
shod friars, and slippered friars; clean friars, and dirty friars, 
and begging friars—but you must really excuse me ; I can¬ 
not tell you of them all.” And then, with that naivete 
which always characterized him, he adds: “ Understand 
me, my dear sister, I do not make this short litany to ridi¬ 
cule the monks, but to make you laugh. I esteem and 
venerate the friars. They are very exemplary, give the 
perfect example of the contempt of worldly goods, “ having 
their conversation in heaven,” and they form, at the same 
time, a most useful body of reserve, which the church calls 
to her aid in case of need, as there are among them not only 
most pious but also most learned men.” 

The brief term of twenty months, during which Pius 
VIII. sat in the chair of Peter, was drawing to its close 
when Martin Spalding arrived in Rome. He refers to the 
death of this Pope in one of his letters : 

“ The death of our Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VIII., has 
awakened universal sorrow in the Catholic world. This ami¬ 
able guardian of the church expired on the 30th of Novem¬ 
ber, after an illness of nearly two weeks. He was greatly 
esteemed for the gentle qualities which, together with his 
name, he seems to have inherited from his illustrious pre¬ 
decessor, Pius VII., whom he sought to imitate. Among 
other incidents illustrative of his kindness of heart, the con¬ 
version of an English officer is spoken of, who had solicited 
an audience, expecting to verify in the person of the Pope all 


Student Life in Rome. 


4* 


that he had heard of the man of sin. But he was received 
with such gentleness and cordiality that his mind and heart 
were completely changed, and, prostrating himself at the 
feet of his Holiness, he declared his intention to embrace 
the Catholic faith. The body was embalmed, and then, 
clothed in pontifical robes, with mozetta and stole, cap of 
red and white soutane, it was exposed for two days in the \ 
chapel of the Quirinal, where it was visited by immense 
crowds of people. I also had the sad privilege of behold¬ 
ing the mortal remains of the Father of the faithful. 

“ In the interval between his death and burial, the car¬ 
dinals, bishops, and prelates of Rome wore mourning, and 
the soldiers carried their arms reversed. On the 2d of 
December, the body was borne to St. Peter’s with military 
pomp and full attendance of the cardinals and princes of 
Rome in carriages. Here it was again exposed for two 
days in the Sixtine Chapel, and again visited by vast 
crowds. Finally, on the 6th of December, after all the 
ceremonies had been performed, the body was placed in a 
wooden case, enclosed in one of iron, which was surrounded 
by a third of lead, and was then deposited in the place 
destined for the temporary reception of the mortal remains 
of the Pontiff till the death of his successor.” 

The confident hopes with which Martin had entered upon 
his studies in Rome soon proved delusive. His health, 
instead of improving, continued to decline, and in a short 
time he was brought to the very brink of the grave. In 
this condition, he dictated a letter to his faithful companion, 
James Lancaster, in which he informed his relations and 
friends of his death, told them that he had died happy, and 
that they should rejoice rather than grieve that he had gone 
to a better world. This letter was sent to Kentucky, and 
for more than a week it was supposed that Martin was 
dead. When the report arrived, Bishop Flaget was sick at 


42 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Loretto. He immediately grew worse, and gave way to 
uncontrollable grief. He kept in his hands a rosary which 
Martin had chained, for him, and repeatedly kissed it and 
bedewed it with his tears. He, however, consoled himself 
with the thought that Martin had served God from the 
days of his youth, and was now certainly in heaven. But 
God, whose minister he was to be, brought him back from 
the jaws of death. As soon as he had partially recovered, 
he wrote the following letter to his father: 

“ Beloved Father : 

“You had, I suppose, given up all hope of ever hearing 
again from your son. Having been unwell the greater part 
of the time since my arrival in Rome, as you already know, 
I was taken ill with cholera-morbus on the 5th of Jan¬ 
uary. The disease continued without abatement for fifteen 
days, bringing me to the point of death, and causing all to 
despair of my life. In the letter which I then wrote to the 
Bishop by the hands of my good companion, I exhorted 
you to lay aside all solicitude for me, told you that I had 
died happy, and desired you to wipe away the tears which 
the news of my death might occasion. Yes, dear father, 
thanks to God and to the principles of his holy religion 
which your parental love had taken care to have instilled 
into my mind from my earliest infancy, I was happy and 
filled even with the sweetest joy when told that my hour 
had come, that the prison of my wretched body was to be 
broken, and that my soul was destined soon to be with her 
Heavenly Father for all eternity. No language can paint 
the peace and happiness of mind which I enjoyed during 
the month in which I was confined to my bed. I suffered, 
it is true, but religion rendered my sufferings sweet, and the 
more I was weakened by disease, the more, thanks be to 
God ! to whom alone all the glory must be given, was I 


Student Life in Rome. 


43 


filled with joy at the appearance of the near approach of 
death. Dear father, fear not for me ; I shall be happy, for 
I have given myself without reserve to God and his holy 
church. I may again see you if it be the holy will of God, 
and, if it be not his will, I gladly make the sacrifice of that 
which would be most agreeable to my heart, trusting to 
see in heaven for all eternity him whom I was not allowed 
to behold again on earth. Let us endeavor to meet in that 
blessed abode, where nothing can separate us. Even should 
I not be permitted to finish my studies here, you will have 
no reason to regret having sent me, as I shall have seen 
enough of the religion and glory of this holy city amply to 
compensate for the expenses you have incurred in sending 
me to Rome. The Holy Father, Gregory XVI., recently 
visited our college, and, when I was presented to him, he 
enquired particularly concerning my health ; and, when I 
answered that I was fast recovering, he expressed the wish 
that I might soon be restored to perfect health.” 

There is something singularly touching in this gentle 
thoughtfulness of the visible head of a church whose 
children number two hundred million souls, with regard to 
a simple young man, a stranger from the wild woods of 
America, whose only merit was that he was a Catholic, and 
had devoted his life to the service of God in the church. 

“ I know not,” says Cardinal Wiseman, “ how a dignitary 
of any other religion, though holding no royal power and 
majesty, would receive a body of youths about to devote 
themselves to the service of his creed, or whether he would 
think it worth while to admit them at all to an interview. 
But to Rome there flock from every region of earth 
aspirants to the ecclesiastical state, in boyhood and well- 
nigh in childhood, speaking as many languages as are attri¬ 
buted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost; and yet, 


44 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


perhaps, hardly one fails to come into personal contact with 
him towards whom from infancy he has looked up as the 
most exalted person in the world. Soon after his arrival, he 
receives an early blessing on his future career, accompanied 
often with a few kind words, unfailingly with a benign look. 
That brief moment is an epoch in life, perhaps a starting- 
point for success. For the general attachment that united 
him with millions to the head of his church, there is estab¬ 
lished a personal bond, an individual connection. It is no 
longer awe and distant reverence, but an affection as distinct 
in character as that to one intimately related. And this 
relation is strengthened in the youthful mind at every suc¬ 
ceeding year of his course. He knows that every professor 
whose lectures he hears has been directly and immediately 
appointed, after careful selection, by the Pope himself; that 
every class-book which he reads has received the same 
supreme sanction; he feels himself almost under the direct 
tuition of the Holy See; however pure and sparkling the 
rills at which others may drink, he puts his lips to the very 
rock which a divine wand has struck, and he sucks in its 
waters as they gush forth living.” * 

Shortly after his arrival in Rome, Martin Spalding ob¬ 
tained from the Cardinal-Prefect, through the mediation 
of the Rector, a place in the Propaganda for his brother 
Benedict, who was still studying and teaching in the semi¬ 
nary at Bardstown. a t once wrote to Bishop Flaget, 

and begged him to allow his brother to come and join him 
in Rome. To this the Bishop himself did not object, but 
some of his advisers hesitated to give their consent. They 
seemed to think that theology could be learned as well in 
Bardstown as in Rome, and that, they understood better 
than their Italian brothers what practical training was 
necessary to form successful missionaries for Kentucky. 

* Recollections of the Four Last Popes, p. 29. 


Student Life in Rome . 


45 


These objections were communicated to Martin, who, in 
reply, wrote a long letter, in which he set forth the special 
advantages of a Roman education. 

“In the past,” he asks, “what nation has not felt the 
influence of religion issuing from the centre of Christian 
unity, and guided by the august head of the Christian 
hierarchy ? And in her train have followed science and 
the arts of civilization. The Eternal City still wields an 
influence in the world not less powerful, certainly more 
glorious, than that which once belonged to the iron sceptre 
of her imperial rulers. The Pope is the immediate supe¬ 
rior of the Propaganda, which, according to the expression 
of a cardinal who frequently honors us with his presence, 
maybe rightly called the. seminary of Christendom. Here, 
under the same roof, are assembled young men from all 
parts of the world. Here we behold the rare spectacle of 
thirteen distinct nationalities united in the bonds of charity. 
How advantageous must not such an assemblage prove to 
the ecclesiastical student who, whilst having before his eyes 
a striking proof of the catholicity of his faith, is at the 
same time thereby enabled to gain an accurate knowledge 
of the state of the church in the various parts of the world ? 
The young men who come here usually possess more than 
ordinary talent, and, in the collision of opinion or in the 
ardor of dispute, genius is awakened. A laudable freedom 
in proposing difficulties is encouraged in the classes, in 
which the language adopted by the church in her ritual 
is in constant use. Premiums are annually distributed to 
those who have signalized themselves, and this year the 
Holy Father himself presided over these exercises. If we 
consider our spiritual advantages, they are not less evident. 
All our superiors are most exemplary. No one more 
amiable than our Rector; no one more fatherly than our 
Confessor; no more perfect models of virtue than all our 


46 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


professors. In fact, the Roman clergy in general are a most 
learned and religious body of men. How can we visit the 
shrines of the martyrs or the Limina Apostolorum without 
feeling a glow of the sacred flame which burned in their 
bosoms—without resolving to imitate their virtues in order 
to be able to emulate their usefulness ? 

“ As for the difference of the two countries in manners 
and customs, I, for my part, can see no good reason why 
the roughness of a Kentucky backwoodsman should not 
receive a touch of European polish; or how, if he should 
acquire something of the piety, politeness, and the gravitas 
condita comitate which are characteristic of the Roman 
clergy, he should thereby be rendered less apt to become a 
useful missionary. In my own case, I am sure that my 
attachment to the institutions of my own country has 
been increased by my absence from it, and I feel confident 
that no American can travel in Europe without being more 
thoroughly convinced that the United States, in natural and 
civil advantages, is inferior to no country in the world. Is 
there not something in the constant conversation of persons 
of so many different nations and dispositions which tends to 
give an acquaintance with human nature, and to impart that 
spirit of accommodation and conciliation which may dispose 
us to become all things to all men, after the example of the 
model of missionaries? Is there not also something in the 
absence from parents' and friends which tends to purify the 
affections and to ennoble the motives of action? What I 
have written, my dear brother, has been prompted by the 
purest love of religion, and I am sure that the gentlemen of 
Bardstown are not more ardent in the sacred cause than 
myself. If they wish to send you to Rome, come cheer¬ 
fully, persuaded that it is the will of God; if not, it is 
better for you to remain in Bardstown. God speaks by 
the mouth of those whom he has placed over us. If you 


Student Life in Rome . 


47 


come, make an entire sacrifice of yourself to God previous 
to your ^departure. Bring nothing with you but good 
health, a cheerful and brave heart, and a will prepared to 
yield obedience to whatever may be enjoined.” 

This letter seems to have produced the intended effect, 
since, shortly after its reception, Benedict Spalding set out 
to join his brother in the Eternal City. 

By the beginning of his second year in the Propaganda, 
Martin had entirely regained his health. Pie again took up 
his studies with renewed earnestness, and at the close of 
the year received the first premiums in all his classes, in 
consequence of which he was decorated with the gold 
medal. He even began to grow stout about this time, 
which caused Bishop David to give him certain hygienic 
admonitions. “ I must tell you,” he writes, “ that I am not 
pleased to hear that you are growing fleshy. This corpu¬ 
lence alarms me, and causes me to fear that you do not 
conform to my prescription, which you praise greatly in one 
of your letters. I have sometimes told those who enquire 
after my health that I can not but be well, since I always 
carry my physician with me ; and, upon their asking who 
that physician is, I answer that it is hunger. The venerable 
Charles Carroll, when asked what means he employed to 
preserve his health in such perfect condition, replied that 
he always left the table hungry.” 


CHAPTER IV. 


LAST YEAR IN ROME—PUBLIC DEFENCE OF THESES FOR 
THE DOCTOR’S CAP. 

HE Rector of the Propaganda during the four 
years which Martin Spalding passed there was 
Count Reisach, who was afterwards made Arch¬ 
bishop of Munich, and who died a cardinal of 
the Roman Church just before the assembling of the Vatican 
Council. He was one of the gentlest of men, and his warm¬ 
hearted frankness of manner soon won the confidence and 
affection of his young American pupil. Dr. Cullen, the 
present Cardinal-Archbishop of Dublin, taught him Scrip¬ 
ture. His spiritual director and confessor was Father 
Vincent Pallotti, one of the most saintly men of his age. 
“ The good odor of his virtues,” wrote Archbishop Spalding 
of Father Pallotti nearly forty years after he had left the 
Propaganda, “ still sweetens my memory, and clusters like 
a halo around my heart.” 

Mezzofanti was also a frequent visitor at the Propaganda 
at this time. “ In appearance,” Martin says in one of his 
letters, “ he is not remarkable, but, as a linguist, he is the 
prodigy of the age. He speaks thirty languages with ease 
and fluency, understands forty, and can learn a new one in 
a few days. It is quite an ordinary occurrence, when he is 
here in the Propaganda, to hear him speak in seven or eight 
different tongues almost in the same breath. He has read 
all our best English authors, and frequently recites long pas¬ 
sages from our poets. Within the last few weeks, he has 
learned the Congo language, which he is now engaged in 






Last Year in Rome . 


49 


teaching to some missionaries who are to be sent to evan¬ 
gelize the savages of that country.” He was, here in the 
Propaganda, for the first time thrown into contact with the 
fathers of the Society of Jesus ; and the evidences which 
he beheld of their great learning and virtue soon won his- 
enthusiastic admiration. “ They are,” he writes, “ the 
brightest ornaments of the clergy, as they are, in my 
opinion, the most noble, the most learned, and the most 
useful auxiliary corps which the church has ever been abk 
to summon to her assistance.” 

From his correspondence, we perceive that his mind was 
dwelling with unusual interest already then upon the rela¬ 
tion of the church to European civilization—a subject which 
he afterwards labored with such earnestness to develop and 
elucidate. In one of his letters, he sketches a plan for a 
history of Italian literature, which, starting from the causes- 
that led to the neglect of letters after the fall of the Roman 
Empire, should describe the religious, social, and political 
conditions which brought about their partial revival in the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. He would then show 
how, in the fifteenth century, Italy became the centre of 
intellectual activity—the focus whence the rest of Europe 
received its light. The whole investigation should prove 
that Europe owes its religion, its laws, its arts and sciences,, 
to Italy, who is indebted for this pre-eminence to the bene¬ 
ficent influence of the church, and, above all, to the fact 
that Rome had been the home of the Vicar of Christ. 
Although this plan is imperfect, it nevertheless shows a pre¬ 
dilection for those studies which regard the historical and 
practical side of the church’s action upon society, which to 
the end of his life continued to have a special charm for him. 

In the spring of 1834, while Martin Spalding was still a 
student in the Propaganda, Bishop England arrived in 
Rome to give an account of his mission to the republic 


50 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


of Hayti. He had left the Eternal City about a year be¬ 
fore, with power of apostolic legate to settle the affairs of 
the church in that island, and he now returned to make 
a report of what he had seen and done. 

Although his efforts had been but partially successful, still 
he had attended to the business upon which he had been 
•sent with a despatch and energy that excited the admiration 
of the officials of the Roman Court, who are proverbially 
slow and deliberate in all affairs of importance. His arrival 
in Rome was preceded by the rumor that, as a reward for 
his many and signal services to the cause of religion, he was 
to receive the cardinal’s hat. The Dublin Evening Post had 
'first given currency to this report, which was copied by the 
journals of Paris ; and when Bishop England passed through 
Trance on his way to Rome, he was everywhere congratu¬ 
lated by the French bishops upon his elevation to the Ro¬ 
man purple. The rumor, like others of more recent date 
'concerning the appointment of an American cardinal, proved 
to be without foundation ; but the fact that it was so gene¬ 
rally believed to be true shows the high opinion which the 
Catholics of Europe had formed of Bishop England’s talents 
and labors in the cause of the church. The American stu¬ 
dents in the Propaganda were, of course, proud of Dr. Eng¬ 
land, and enthusiastic admirers of his genius as a writer and 
speaker. Their letters of this date are filled with the praises 
of this wonderful man, whom the Italian cardinals called il 
vescovo a vapore —the steam-bishop ; meaning probably some¬ 
thing similar to what Sydney Smith sought to express when 
: he called Webster a steam-engine in breeches. 

It was during this visit of Bishop England to Rome that 
Martin Spalding, having completed the full course of stu¬ 
dies as prescribed in the Propaganda, made a public defence 
of two hundred and fifty-six propositions, chosen from uni¬ 
versal theology, church history, and canon law. 


Defence of Theses for the Doctors Cap . 51 


It is seldom that a candidate for the doctorate defends 
so large a number of theses embracing so wide a range 
of subjects. 

Martin Spalding was the first American student in Rome 
to whom this honor was granted, and since his time but one 
or two Americans have received the doctor’s cap after a 
defence of propositions chosen from universal theology, 
Scripture, and canon law. Bishop England was present 
when the young Kentuckian stood up to make good his 
two hundred and fifty-six propositions against any and 
every foe who might see fit to enter the lists against him ; 
and from his graphic pen we have an interesting account 
of the closing scenes in Martin Spalding’s student life. 

The defence of the grand thesis is by no means a mere 
ceremony of formality and display. Only the best students 
are selected, and they enter the field in fear, not knowing 
whether victory or defeat awaits them. 

“There is a formidable Jesuit here,” wrote Bishop Eng¬ 
land, “ who is a professor of dogmatic theology at the Ro¬ 
man College, who has lately swept, in a comparatively short 
encounter, half a dozen of these youthful aspirants from 
the field of fame; and their teachers were neither insen¬ 
sible nor inactive on and after, the encounter. The effects 
of this carnage are not yet at an end ; gauntlet after gaunt¬ 
let is flung down, and the judges of such feats are in con¬ 
tinual requisition. On the present occasion, John Martin 
Spalding, a Kentuckian, and the senior student of the 
United States of North America, a pupil of the Urban 
College, published a respectful and manly Latin address to 
the Congregation of Cardinals presiding over the affairs of 
the Propaganda, in which, after wishing their eminences 
happiness and health, he informs them of what he considers 
the blessings diffused by their institution, for which they 
deserve thanks: and. as he has finished the usual course of 


52 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


studies, he has determined to express publicly his gratitude 
by sustaining his theses, expressing the doctrines which he 
shall endeavor to teach in those distant regions to which he 
is about to return. For this purpose, he will appear, God 
willing, in the morning, in the great hall of the college, when 
and where it shall be lawful for any one who thinks proper 
to controvert what he undertakes to defend; and, in the 
afternoon, he will appear in the college chapel, where three 
select champions will successively make their assaults, after 
which he will be ready to meet any other that may be dis¬ 
posed to try his strength. Then follows a list of two hun¬ 
dred and fifty-six propositions which lie undertakes to de¬ 
fend. They are taken from the several treatises of theology 
and canon law. Copies were sent to the other colleges, and 
special invitations were given to several individuals whose 
attendance was particularly desirable. About half-past eight 
o’clock on Thursday morning (July 17, 1834), I arrived at 
the gate of the college, on the pavement in front of which 
was a profuse scattering of sweet-smelling green leaves ; the 
bay and myrtle predominated ; the gate itself was open, and 
this fragrant path marked the way to the interior. 

“ The strewing continued up the great staircase, along the 
open gallery of the first floor, to the great door leading to 
the principal corridor, along this passage to the gate of the 
principal hall. This room, about eighty feet in length, by 
perhaps forty wide and twenty in height, has its walls deco¬ 
rated with paintings of students of this college who had 
borne testimony to the faith under the inflictions of the 
deadly pain by which they were in remote regions martyred 
for their discharge of duty; thus exhibiting to the youth 
who are therein educated the constancy which the church 
expects from them under similar circumstances. At the 
further extremity, opposite the door, was a carpeted plat¬ 
form, elevated two steps; upon this the young Kentuckian 


Defence of Theses for the Doctors Cap . 53 


was seated, with a small table before him, having also seated 
by him on one side his professor of theology, a Roman, and 
on the other his professor of law, a Bavarian count, who is 
a priest and rector of the college. The renowned scholar, 
Angelo Mai, presided, being seated on your right as you 
entered the hall, near this platform. A range of chairs 
extended on either side, leaving a passage of about ten feet 
wide in the centre. These chairs were intended for cardinals, 
bishops, or other prelates and professors who might arrive-; 
ranges of benches parallel to these on each side, behind, were 
pretty generally thronged by students of that or other col¬ 
leges, and by strangers. No cardinal was present in the 
forenoon ; the Bishop of Charleston was the only prelate of 
the episcopal order; but several others of various grades, 
secular and regular, amongst whom were the rectors and 
professors of several colleges, occupied most of the chairs. 

“ The first argument had been concluded when I arrived; 
it was conducted by an Italian secular priest, whose name I 
could not learn. The second was made by a Dominican friar, 
a man of very great talent and ingenuity; he had also nearly 
concluded. An Infirmarian, or Crutched friar, conducted 
the third with considerable spirit and ability. Next suc¬ 
ceeded an Irishman, a student of the Roman Seminary, who 
did argue most lustily against the real presence and the sacri¬ 
fice of the Mass. The next was a German Jesuit, well known 
in the United States, Father Kohlman, who for nearly half an 
hour argued eloquently against the primacy of the Holy See. 
He was followed by Signor Rosa, one of the minutanti and 
a professor of theology, who argued against the power of 
remitting all sins in the sacrament of penance. Dr. Wise¬ 
man, Rector of the English College, next argued for the figu¬ 
rative meaning of the words of our Saviour in the institu¬ 
tion of the eucharist, introducing various analogies from 
Persian, Arabic, and other Asiatic writers, some of which 


54 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


are pompously brought forward in the preface to ponderous 
tomes of polyglots by an Oxford doctor of modern celebrity. 
The celebrated Monsignor Mezzofanti then followed up with 
considerable subtlety and acuteness, when the great bell 
announced midday. 

“ The young American had now been upwards of four hours 
sharply engaged in scholastic disputation, in the Latin lan¬ 
guage, with men of various nations and of no ordinary cali¬ 
bre, and had not failed or hesitated in a single answer. 

“ To a stranger, the style of this mode of disputation is alto¬ 
gether a novelty. You are carried back by the introduction 
of the argument to all the pompous style of ancient heraldry 
and regulated courtesy of disputation. The disputant gen¬ 
erally commences by a high-wrought compliment to the 
institution, its various officers, to the particular professor of 
the science against which he is to make his assault, to the 
genius and erudition of the defender; then speaks of his 
own defeats, how reluctant he is to couch a lance against so 
powerful an opponent; but if he makes a pass or two, it is 
not in the vain hope of victory, for which there is no chance, 
but that, taught by the prowess he will elicit, he may im¬ 
prove. He then commences his attack, and presses on gen¬ 
erally with great vigor. 

“ The defendant, in turn, professes the high estimation in 
which he holds his opponent, introducing in his description 
an enumeration of the offices he has held, the honors he has 
obtained, and the great qualities for which he is remarkable. 
Then he briefly recapitulates the argument, dissects it, and 
takes its separate parts for successive examination, and, after 
having thus disposed of it, he says he is inclined to think it 
not so strong as at first supposed. 

“ There was a recess for rest, dinner, and preparation for 
the afternoon. But on this occasion the assembly was more 
solemn. The disposition of the church was similar to that 


Defence of Theses for the Doctors Cap. 55 

of the hall. The dresses were, for cardinals, bishops, and 
other prelates, what are * called robes of the second class— 
the cardinals in red, the bishops in purple, and such of the 
other prelates as were entitled to it in the same color. The 
cardinals, of whom only seven were present, sat on very rich 
chairs on the right side of the chapel. Three chosen dispu¬ 
tants occupied the first places on the opposite side; then 
the bishops and other dignitaries. The Swiss Guard formed 
at the door and lined the passage. The exercises began 
with an exceedingly ingenious argument against the primacy 
of St. Peter, made with great tact and skill by the prelate 
Raffaelle Fornari, Canonist of the Penitentiaria, former Pro¬ 
fessor of Theology in the Propaganda, and a man of the very 
first ability. This lasted nearly three-quarters of an hour. 
The second was on the subject of Grace, by Father Perrone, 
a Jesuit, Professor of Dogmatic Theology in the Roman Col¬ 
lege. This is a man of the most profound research and great 
logical powers, with an admirable memory. This engagement 
lasted half an hour. Nearly as long again was occupied in 
an argument against the divine character of Christianity by 
Father Modena, Assistant to the Master of the Sacred Palace, 
and a Dominican friar. 

“ The cardinals rose and shook hands with the Kentuckian, 
who was carried away by his fellow-students in triumph.” * 

We shall now for a moment turn our attention to eccle¬ 
siastical affairs in Kentucky during the time that Martin 
Spalding was in Rome. 

Bishop Flaget, who was of an extremely sensitive disposi¬ 
tion, which caused him to suffer greatly from disappointments 
and afflictions, had several times during the quarter of a 
century in which he had so successfully labored in Kentucky 
desired to be relieved of the responsibilities and cares of the 


Bishop England's JVorhs, vol. iv. p. 131. 


56 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


episcopal office, thinking, in his great humility, that he was 
unable to bear so weighty a burden. 

After repeated solicitations, he at length succeeded, in 
1832, in obtaining from the Holy See the acceptance of his 
resignation, and the appointment of Bishop David to the 
see of Bardstown, with Dr. Chabrat as coadjutor. 

The intelligence of these changes, which was received 
during the absence of Bishop Flaget from the diocese, pro¬ 
duced very general and great dissatisfaction both among the 
clergy and the laity of Kentucky. Bishop David protested 
against his unexpected promotion, and the whole diocese 
was filled with grief at the loss of Bishop Flaget, who was 
loved and revered by all as a father. 

Bishop Flaget, when the news of the excitement in Ken¬ 
tucky reached him, was in St. Louis. He perceived the 
necessity of returning at once to his old diocese, and per¬ 
suaded Bishop Rosati to accompany him, in order to assist 
in averting the storm which seemed to be brewing. They 
found, upon their arrival, that the report of the general dis¬ 
content among both priests and people had not been ex¬ 
aggerated. The new state of things had been brought about 
so unexpectedly that the bishops seemed doubtful what 
course to take. Bishop David was resolute in his nolo epis- 
copari. Bishop Flaget was convinced that age and infirmity 
rendered it impossible that he should again assume the 
duties of the episcopal office ; and all seemed to feel that 
Dr. Chabrat would not be acceptable either to the priests 
or people of Kentucky. Something, however, had to be 
done, and the bishops, after having considered all the bear¬ 
ings of the case, finally determined to petition the Holy 
See to accept the resignation of Bishop David, and to dis¬ 
pose at will of Bishop Flaget and Dr. Chabrat. 

The following spring, an answer to the petition was re¬ 
ceived from the Holy Father, in which he accepted the 


Defence of Theses for the Doctors Cap. 57 


resignation of Bishop David, and reinstated Bishop Flaget 
as Bishop of Bardstown. Nothing was said concerning the 
appointment of Dr. Chabrat. Thus Bishop Flaget’s efforts 
to get relief from the cares of his office resulted, for the 
time at least, in depriving him of a coadjutor and throwing 
the undivided burden back upon his own shoulders. In 
his sensitive state of mind, this was very distressing; and 
he was unable to find peace or rest until he finally suc¬ 
ceeded in obtaining from Rome the appointment of Dr. 
Chabrat as his coadjutor. The bulls arrived on the 29th 
of June, 1834, and, in precisely a month from the day of 
their reception, Dr. Chabrat was consecrated Bishop of 
Bolina, in partibus in fide Hum , and Coadjutor of the Bishop 
of Bardstown. Bishop Chabrat, though an excellent priest 
and a most worthy gentleman, was never a favorite with the 
priests and Catholic people of Kentucky, many of whom 
were opposed to his appointment. It is to this feeling that 
certain remarks of Bishop Flaget, in the following letter to 
Martin Spalding, refer. The letter is dated the 17th of 
May, 1834: 

“ Dear Martin : 

“ The peace and the mercy of God be with you ! I must 
pay you my compliments for having raised yourself above 
his Eminence the Cardinal-Prefect. In his last letter, he 
promised that, ineunte vere , you should start for your dio¬ 
cese ; but it appears that his eminence had not consulted 
you, as, according to Benedict’s letter, you will not leave 
Rome before next August, after having completed your 
studies and made a public defence of theses. The holy 
will of God be done! If this delay turn to your improve¬ 
ment and the good of the church, as I hope it will, I am 
content; for I have no other aim than the glory of God 
and the honor of the church. Be sure that a large field 


53 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


awaits you in Kentucky, and, let your learning, piety, and 
zeal be never so eminent, we will give you abundant oppor¬ 
tunity of putting them to use. Your modesty in asserting 
that, after four years of great application to study, you 
have scarcely learned the catechism of divinity pleases me 
very much. You have said nothing that is not true, but to 
have sufficient candor to acknowledge it is praiseworthy. 
What must you think of my dear Kentucky missionaries, 
who have been ordained after three years of theology, 
having, whilst studying, to teach daily several hours in the 
college? When you and my dear James return, we will 
establish the seminary on a better basis, I hope. If you 
succeed well in your public examinations, and praises are 
bestowed upon you, receive them, my dear Martin, with 
gratitude, but immediately refer them to God. It is better 
to have moderate talents with humility than to have emi¬ 
nent gifts with pride and vanity. Let me say, en passant , 
that my young Propagandist has favored those who opposed 
the Rev. M. Chabrat’s appointment. This, my dear child, 
is imprudent, to say the least, and calculated to wound my 
feelings. Yet I forgive you from the bottom of my heart, 
on account of your want of experience of the ways of the 
world, having been all your life a stranger to its malice and 
wickedness. When you visit the Limina Apostolorum, beg 
all the apostles to obtain strength for me in my trials, 
which are many and sometimes almost intolerable.” 

The reply to this letter of Bishop Flaget was written by 
Martin Spalding, now the Rev. Dr. Soalding, on the eve of 
setting out on his journey home: 

“ Rt. Rev. Father in Christ : 

“ I should have answered your letter long since, but my 
occupations during the few weeks which preceded my de- 


Defence of Theses for the Doctor's Cap. 


59 


parture from Rome crowded upon me with such pressure 
that I could not find even a moment’s time to devote to my 
good old father in Christ. After my,public disputation, I 
entered into a retreat which lasted two weeks, to prepare 
myself for the reception of holy orders. I was ordained 
sub-deacon on the 3d, deacon on the 10th, and priest on the 
13th of August, by a special dispensation of the Holy Fa¬ 
ther, which I asked myself, and on the 15th I started on my 
journey homeward. From the hurry in which I received 
holy orders, and my haste in leaving Rome after my ordi¬ 
nation, you may conclude that my delay here has not been 
voluntary, or because of my having raised myself above 
his Eminence Cardinal Pedicini, as you seem to think. No, 
beloved father, the will of my superiors alone, whom I am 
bound to obey, caused me to delay so long to return to you ; 
though, strictly speaking, I have not delayed at all, since 
the course of theology in the Propaganda is of four years, 
and, even counting my first year here, in which sickness 
prevented me from studying, I have been in Rome but four 
years. However, I have simply been obedient to the ex¬ 
press will of my superiors, to whom, if fault there be, the 
fault must be imputed. 

Dear father, never have I passed any time of my life in 
such perfect happiness as the two weeks which I spent in 
retreat previous to my ordination ; nor have I ever enjoyed 
before the peace and tranquillity which dwell in my soul 
since I am a priest. I feel as if I were in a new world. I 
have dedicated myself wholly, entirely, and permanently to 
God in the priesthood. By the help of his holy grace, I 
hope to persevere in my present dispositions to the close of 
my life, and thus to be able to do something for his honor 
and glory on the missions of Kentucky. 

“ Be assured, dear father, that you shall have no difficulty 
with me as regards reverence, submission, and obedience to 


6o 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


my bishop, whomsoever God may choose or has chosen to 
appoint. I have not learned insubordination and disobedi¬ 
ence within the walls of the Propaganda. I have always es¬ 
teemed and loved the Rev. Mr. Chabrat, and my reverence 
for him will be increased if he is made bishop. In short, I 
promise that, with the grace of God, I shall ever be obedient 
to any and all lawfully constituted authority ; this promise 
I made at my ordination, and I hope never to violate it. A 
few days previous to my departure, I went to say farewell to 
the Holy P'ather, upon which occasion I presented him with 
a handsomely bound copy of my theses. He seemed 
pleased, received me with the greatest kindness, and sends 
through me a thousand blessings to you and your whole 
diocese. 

“If God bless my homeward journey, I shall have many 
things to tell you when the great joy of seeing you again 
will be given me.” 


CHAPTER V. 


ORDAINED PRIEST—RETURNS HOME—IS MADE PASTOR OF 
THE CATHEDRAL IN BARDSTOWN—PROFESSOR IN THE 
SEMINARY—THE “ MINERVA.” 

HE four years which Martin Spalding passed 
in Rome under the shadow of the Vatican 
certainly had a most marked and beneficial in¬ 
fluence upon his life. The very surroundings of 
the place taught him lessons which cannot be learned from 
books. Wherever he might turn, monuments of Christian 
faith and Christian heroism spoke to him of the glories of 
the indefectible church. The tombs of the martyrs; their 
bones ; the very ground which they had watered with their 
blood, in testimony of Christ ; the sacred corridors of the 
Catacombs, where even now one can almost hear the echoes 
of the footfalls of those generations of Christian heroes who 
alone, without human aid, strong only in their faith in God 
and the purity of their lives, stood up and battled for truth 
and freedom of conscience with the masters of the world, until 
at last their persecutors came and knelt at the foot of the cross, 
converted by the very blood they had shed ; the temples of 
religion, whose material structure even lifts up the soul to 
God, and bows it down in adoration; all the arts, which 
here have been led captive in the train of religion, and 
brought each to add a jewel to her immortal crown; the 
wonderful and inspiring ceremonies of the church, which in 
Rome alone are seen in all their beauty and perfection—all 






62 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


this could not but have a beneficent and elevating in¬ 
fluence upon the uncorrupted and generous nature of this 
young American. A new world was here revealed to him, 
and his soul glowed with a love and enthusiasm which it 
had not hitherto known. From his letters we have seen 
how, from the first moment, his heart went out in love to 
the church in Rome, “ whose faith is spoken of in the whole 
world,’’ even as a child leaps into the arms of its mother. 
Upon no subject was he more entertaining or did he 
speak more gladly than upon that of Rome; and even with 
regard to those Roman manners and customs which, to an 
American, appear odd, he never suffered himself to indulge 
in censure or harsh criticism. 

In Rome, too, he was thrown, in relations more or less 
intimate, with men of the first ability and the greatest 
learning. When he arrived, Cardinal Cappellari, afterwards 
Gregory XVI.—a man of considerable literary attainments 
and of great knowledge—was the Cardinal-Prefect of the 
Propaganda, and, as we have seen, he received the young 
American with paternal kindness, and never ceased to 
encourage him to go manfully forward in the way upon 
which he had entered. 

Count Reisach, a German nobleman—the most amiable 
of men, who to high birth, exalted position, and great 
learning added the charm and simplicity of manner which 
Christian virtue alone can give—was his immediate superior, 
being Rector of the Propaganda.* 

Monsignor Mai, afterwards Cardinal, the inventor and 
restorer of the palimpsests, who, at the age of thirty-seven, 
had made more additions to the stock of ancient learning 

* “You may depend upon it,” said Coleridge, “religion is, in its 
essence, the most gentlemanly thing in the world. It will alone gentilize, if 
unmixed with cant; and I know nothing else that will, alone. Certainly not 
the army, which is thought to be the grand embellisher of manners.” 


Returns Home . 


63 

than a century had done before him, was Secretary of the 
Propaganda, which gave the young student opportunity of 
frequently seeing and hearing this wonderful man, to whom, 
after his return to the United States, he sometimes wrote. 

Occasionally, too, he was permitted to converse with or, 
at least, to hear famous men who were not immediately 
connected with the Propaganda. The pontificate of Gregory 
XVI. was remarkably fruitful of such men. Thus Martin 
Spalding was made acquainted with Mezzofanti, Wiseman, 
Theiner, Palma, Perrone, and others of scarcely less note. 
Nothing awakens the mind of the student like the contact 
of higher and more perfectly developed intellects; and, in 
the present instance, the illustrious examples of so many 
men who, by their brilliant talents and great learning, were 
doing or had already done so much for the honor and 
glory of the church filled him with a noble ambition to 
emulate in the new world their great achievements in the 
old. He also brought with him from the Eternal City, as 
he states in his letter to Bishop Flaget, the spirit of obe¬ 
dience to all lawful authority, and, I may add, a special 
love and veneration for the visible head of the church, with¬ 
out which Catholic obedience, in the true sense, is not possi¬ 
ble. His firm hope had proven to be well founded—God 
had permitted him to finish his studies and to become a 
priest, and now, at the age of twenty-four, with a mind well 
stored and a heart all aglow with zeal, he was prepared to 
return to his native land to enter upon his life work. 

On the 29th of August, 1834, he sailed from Leghorn for 
New York, where he landed on the 26th of October. “ I 
remember,” said Archbishop McCloskey, referring to this, 
“ the day and date full well, because I myself was then just 
on the eve of departure for that holy city from which he 
came ; and it was during the few days of his sojourn in New 
York that I first made his acquaintance, which soon ripened 


6 4 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


into a friendship that grew and strengthened until the last 
day of his life.” 

On his way home, he passed through Philadelphia to visit 
his old friend and professor, Bishop Kenrick, who, when he 
set out on his journey to Rome four years before, was still 
a professor in the seminary at Bardstown. In the cathedral 
of Philadelphia he preached his first sermon in America. 
He touched the soil of his native State at Louisville, where 
he remained a few days to take note of the progress which 
the church was making in this already at that time the 
most important city in Kentucky. 

Mother Catherine Spalding, the first Mother-Superioress 
of the Sisters of Charity in Kentucky, and the foundress of 
the St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum in Louisville, had just 
begun this noble work, which, in the providence of God, 
was to be the means of saving so many helpless children 
from ruin in this world and in eternity. 

He, of course, visited the asylum. The first orphan whom 
Mother Catherine ever received, who is now distinguished 
alike for cultivation of mind and for a life devoted to deeds 
of charity, has described that visit to me : “ I shall never for¬ 
get (these are her words) the rosy, beaming, almost boyish 
face, so full of intelligence, so perfectly spiritual in its whole 
expression, as it appeared in the poor school-room of the 
orphans. A word of introduction from the beloved mother, 
a tender blessing, and in a moment the accomplished scho¬ 
lar and the eloquent priest was sitting in the midst of thirty 
little girls, the oldest of whom was not twelve, relating his 
adventures in the old world, telling anecdotes of college 
life, giving graphic pictures of famous scenes and objects of 
interest in Europe. So entertaining was the narrator, so 
lifelike yet simple his delineations, that his hearers, as 
many an audience afterwards, under the charms of his elo¬ 
quence, lost the sense of the passage of time.” Trivial in 


Returns Home. 


£>5 


itself, this little circumstance is worthy of record, as illustrat¬ 
ing one of the most marked features in the character of 
Archbishop Spalding, which was his great love of children,, 
and the wonderful power which he possessed of winning 
their attention and sympathy. 

When an old man, broken by many cares and many labors,, 
increasing infirmity forewarned him of the near approach of 
death, he requested that the orphan children for whom he 
had provided a home might follow what of him was mortal 
to the grave. 

It had been Bishop Flaget’s intention, it appears, to make 
Dr. Spalding president of the seminary and college in 
Bardstown. He had for several years desired to establish 
in his own diocese a college modelled after that of the Pro¬ 
paganda, in which he would be able to train up a band of 
efficient missionaries for the great West ; and he relied 
upon his Roman students to assist him in carrying out 
this plan. 

But when Dr. Spalding arrived in Kentucky, the Rev. 
Mr. Chabrat had been made coadjutor, and Bishop Flaget 
was preparing for a journey to Europe, which in all proba¬ 
bility would cause him to be absent from his diocese for 
several years. In this state of affairs, Dr. Spalding was 
unwilling to take charge of the seminary, and he was there¬ 
fore made pastor of the cathedral. St. Joseph’s College 
was at this time managed by a Board of Trustees, under the 
presidency of the Bishop as moderator. Dr. Spalding w*as 
at once elected a member of this Board, and also accepted 
the professorship of philosophy in the seminary. The Pro¬ 
paganda bound its students by solemn promise to write to 
the Cardinal-Prefect once in every two years a full account of 
their labors and success in the missions. Dr. Spalding was; 
scrupulously faithful to this obligation up to the time when, 
he was released from it by his appointment as Coadjutor of 


66 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


Bishop Flaget; and from these letters to the Propaganda, 
copies of most of which I have been able to procure, we 
have a reliable account of his labors on the missions from 
1834 to 1848. 

St. Joseph’s Cathedral was built by Bishop Flaget, and 
dedicated to the service of God in 1819. It was, at that 
time and for many years after, the finest church in the West. 
The congregation was, with one exception, the largest in 
the diocese. Four stations, at which Mass was said, 
were attached to it, and received monthly visits from the 
pastor. The whole number of souls committed to the 
pastoral care of Dr. Spalding was about fifteen hundred. 
Of these, he says, in one of his letters to the Propaganda, 
nearly eight hundred approached the sacraments monthly. 
On Sundays, he sang Mass and preached in the cathedral, 
and during the week visited one or other of the stations, 
where he also preached and administered the sacraments. 
He seems to have labored with remarkable success; for, 
besides the large number of monthly communicants referred 
to, he occasionally in his letters makes mention of the con¬ 
version of Protestants. In two years, he received into the 
church not less than fifty converts, which was certainly a 
very considerable number in so small a place as Bardstown. 

He devoted much of his time to instructing the young 
and ignorant, especially the negroes, of whom there was a 
large number in his congregation. 

The tone of his letters at this time shows with what 
earnestness and healthful zest he had entered upon his 
apostolical labors. He is not impatient, he is not too eager, 
but he finds rest only in work ; and the more he does, the 
more he feels the need of doing. Much had been done, but 
much more remained to be done. The condition of pro¬ 
gress is that, as we advance, the still greater effort must we 
make to go yet further. 


Pastor at Bardstown . 


67 


He is wholly absorbed in his vocation, and all the currents 
of his life are tributary to his soul’s high purpose. He 
preaches, he hears confessions, he visits the sick, he teaches 
the ignorant, and, when he has nothing else to do, he flies 
back to his dear books, the ever-welcome companions of his 
vacant hours. 

He had but one kind of duty, but one love, but one 
spouse to whom he had plighted the troth of his soul; his 
life was undivided, and he was happy. They who think a 
wifeless man unblest know naught of the life of the soul in 
itself and in God. There is a manner of life so high, so cer¬ 
tain of its course, so perfectly harmonious with the deepest 
cravings and highest instincts of the heart, that the soul 
which has tasted of its delights asks for no other blessed¬ 
ness here on earth. It does not crave ; it could not bear 
closer contact with flesh and blood. 

The world has not, I believe, a body of men who are 
more contented, better satisfied with their lot in life and the 
work which they are doing, than the priests of the Catholic 
Church, 

Shortly after Dr. Spalding’s return home, the faculty of 
St. Joseph’s, of which he was a member, began the publica¬ 
tion of the first Catholic periodical ever issued in Kentucky, 
under the title of the St. Joseph's College Minerva. 

The Minerva was a monthly magazine, and, though under 
the control of Catholics, it was rather literary than religious 
in its character. 

Dr. Spalding was its leading contributor, and made, 
through its columns, his first appearance as an essayist 
and reviewer. 

He wrote for it a series of papers, in which he reviewed a 
Journal of Travels in Southern Europe; and also an essay 
on the Study of History. In a paper entitled Thoughts on 
Man , he introduces a student, who, after having travelled 


68 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


over Europe, seeks the mountains of Switzerland to indulge 
his love of solitude and meditation in presence of the sub- 
limest scenes in nature. Where Sovran Blanc, the monarch 
of mountains, raises his bald and awful head from out the 
silent sea of pines, he sits him down and communes with 
the world around him, and from the created rises to the 
Creator; and then, turning his thoughts back upon his own 
soul, he argues, from its infinite longings and aspirations, its 
immortality. 

A few passages from this essay will serve as examples of 
Dr. Spalding’s style in his earliest literary efforts: 

“ Thus situated, he viewed and examined all the beauty 
and grandeur which nature spread before him. He con¬ 
templated the earth, with its mountains, and valleys, and 
varied landscapes. His mind ranged among the multitudi¬ 
nous departments and branches of the mineral, vegetable, 
and animal kingdoms, catching glimpses of the principal 
beauties of each, and feasting upon the general order and 
symmetry of the great whole. He then endeavored, by the 
light of reason, to reduce the phenomena of nature to their 
proper causes, and was delighted to find that these 
and all that falls under man’s observation consti¬ 
tute one splendid and united aggregate, without the 
slightest break of harmony or the least dissonance of parts. 
Even those objects which, viewed separately, seemed out of 
place, tended, when considered in relation to the whole, to 
increase the general symmetry. Having in spirit traversed 
the varied beauties of earth, he turned his enraptured gaze 
to heaven. His unchained thought travelled through those 
boundless regions of ether, studded with worlds, and, under 
the luminous guidance of Astronomy, explored, as far as 
man’s contracted span will permit, the various relations and 
several beauties of those brilliant orbs that roll above us. 
Yet notwithstanding the vastness and immeasurable gran- 


The “Minerva .” 


69 


deur of the universe ; notwithstanding the great multiplicity 
and variety of its parts, what order, what harmony, what 
unity! Not a single stone is misplaced in the splendid 
edifice; not a flaw in the noble vase. The unity of the 
work argues intelligence and design in the artist. Such 
symmetry could not be the result of blind chance—a name 
to which no reality corresponds. Who, enquired he, fitted 
together with so masterly a hand the various parts of the 
universe ? 

“ What hand behind the scene. 

What arm almighty, put these wheeling globes 
In motion, and wound up the vast machine ? 

Who rounded in his palm these spacious orbs? 

Who bowled them flaming through the dark profound, 
Numerous as glittering gems of morning dew, 

And set the bosom of old night on fire? 

Who marshals this bright host, enrols their names, 

Appoints their posts, their marches, and returns, 

Punctual at stated periods? Who disbands 
These veteran troops, their final duty done— 

If e’er disbanded?” 

Having concluded that “ earth, with her thousand voices, 
calls on God,” he asks himself what are his own relations 
to this Infinite Being. The soul craves for happiness ; its 
desires, like an inverted cone, expand without limit; pos¬ 
session never satisfies it; in the highest state, it seeks a 
still higher; it swallows up time, and feels the worthless¬ 
ness of whatever ceases to be ; it shrinks back on itself, and 
startles at the thought of destruction. 

“ ’Tis the divinity that stirs within us ; 

’Tis Heaven itself that points out an hereafter 
And inimates eternity to man.” 


;o 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


In the mountains of Switzerland, the young traveller 
meets with a sage who, disgusted with the world, had 
sought solitude, that undisturbed he might commune with 
God and nature. He had passed through the exciting 
scenes of the French Revolution, the Consulate, and the 
Empire, and the conversation turns upon the social state. 
The various opinions of philosophers concerning the origin 
of society are discussed, and the hermit concludes “ that 
whatever may be said of the origin of society, its primary 
end is the welfare of the members that compose it; that 
however true may be the maxim that individual interest 
should be sacrificed to the general good, it should not be 
pushed to the extent of endangering the interests of the 
majority; and that when a government, in whatever man¬ 
ner it may be organized, ceases to be advantageous to the 
majority, it should be exchanged for another more suitable 
to existing circumstances. The obligatory bonds of society, 
however unjust and tyrannical may have been the means 
resorted to for its formation, originate in a contract, 
whether express or implied, between the governed and the 
governing —a contract the obligation of which is as sacred 
as its fulfilment is all-important. And when one party is 
guilty of a flagrant violation of the contract—of an infringe¬ 
ment that involves the most serious evils—the other can, as 
is of the nature of a contract, reclaim its rights, and sue for 
indemnity in the highest chancery of either earth or heaven. 

“ The justness of your remarks cannot be questioned,” 
rejoined Viator, “ whatever hypothesis may be made re¬ 
garding the formation of society, or whichsoever of the 
many forms of government we may choose to consider, 
whether monarchical, aristocratical, republican, or mixed. 
These principles appear to be founded in the nature of 
things, and are, of course, unchangeable. The governors 
and legislators are for the people, not these for those.” 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE “CATHOLIC ADVOCATE”—RELIGIOUS JOURNALISM- 
EFFORTS TO EXTEND ITS INFLUENCE. 

HE Minerva , as I have already stated, was rather 
a literary than a religious magazine. The in¬ 
crease of Catholics, as well as the ability which 
the young editors of the Minerva had shown, 
led many to think that the church in Kentucky was now 
able to establish and support a journal specially devoted to 
the defence of Catholic principles. Of the great need of 
such a journal there could be no doubt. 

The Protestant preachers of that day were very active, and 
had all the impudence of ignorance in the reckless misstate¬ 
ment of Catholic teachings and practices. Books in defence 
of the church could not be so easily got as at present, and 
even those which could be had often failed to grasp the 
precise phase of religious thought with which the Catholics 
of the West had to contend. Scattered through the State, 
they were frequently unable, owing to the small number of 
missionaries, to see a priest more than twice or three times 
in the year, and hence could not be well instructed in the 
doctrines of their faith. 

The aggressive character of the Protestant population in 
the days of camp-meetings and jerking revivals, when super¬ 
stition and bigotry caused thousands to believe in childish 
credulity that the Pope was Antichrist, and that Roman 
Catholics had horns and cloven feet, made the defect of 
thorough religious training among Catholics more keenly 
felt. 





72 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


The necessity of establishing a Catholic journal which, 
whilst inculcating sound doctrine, would be able to lay hold 
on each calumny as it would rise, and crush it, or at least 
deaden its effect, was urgent. For these reasons, at the 
close of the first year of its existence the Minerva ceased 
to appear, and was succeeded by the Catholic Advocate , a 
weekly journal. 

Of this paper Dr. Spalding, whilst continuing to dis¬ 
charge his duties as pastor and professor, became chief 
editor, assisted by the Rev. G. A. Elder, the Rev. H. De- 
luynes, who afterwards entered the Society of Jesus, and the 
Rev. William E. Clark. 

The first number, which appeared in February, 1835, con¬ 
tained the following straightforward and manly appeal to 
the public : 

“ The fact that Catholics are a vigorous and energetic 
body cannot be denied. Their continued action, like that 
of their fathers in the faith, derives a new stimulus from 
misfortune and oppression. It must ultimately be pro¬ 
ductive of much good or of much evil. The spirit which 
animates them is powerful, and, it would seem, from the 
history of eighteen centuries, unconquerable. Its tendency 
is highly useful, or dangerous in the extreme. If they are 
what they are said to be, let them be doomed to disgrace 
and ruin; their fate will be just. If they are honest and 
slandered men, it is the duty of the liberal and intelligent 
portion of their fellow-citizens to support and shield them 
against sectarian bigotry. 

“ The verdict of public opinion should never be given 
but after a patient and dignified hearing of the accused. 
Hence, on the part of the public, the duty of listening to 
their vindication, and examining into the merits of their 
cause; and, on the part of the Catholics, the still more 
sacred obligation of appearing at the bar of their country, 


The “ Catholic Advocate 


73 


and stating their principles, their belief, their practice as 
Christians and as citizens. In some cases, not to confute is 
to confess the charges. Silence would be in these circum¬ 
stances treachery to themselves, a virtual and cowardly 
abandonment of their rights as free-born Americans, and 
even a sort of apostasy from the religion which they pro¬ 
fess. 

“ The language of their actions has hitherto been, it is 
true, clear and strong. Upon all occasions they have proved 
themselves peaceful, patriotic, and brave ; prodigal alike of 
their blood and of their intellectual resources for the benefit 
of all. In the hour of danger, they have fought under the 
banner of their country. In the time of peace, they have 
devoted their energies to the education of her youth, that 
vital part of the republican system. But the religious ex¬ 
citement, or hypocrisy of designing men, heeds not or mis¬ 
construes that language, so intelligible, we hope, to the 
majority of our fellow-citizens. It is lost upon those men, 
in whose breast a holy zeal, as they call it, for the cause of 
Christianity and the welfare of their country has not left 
even a faint vestige of the true American spirit. The love 
of God and mankind is, in these men, incompatible with a 
sense and exercise of toleration and justice. They form, we 
know, a minority; but if they are comparatively few, they 
are vigilant, active, untiring. They penetrate and act every¬ 
where. In the legislative hall and in the humblest cabin, in 
the pulpit and during the convivial hour, or in the domestic 
circle, the voice of slander is heard, and solemnly proclaims, 
or insidiously whispers, dark things of the Catholics. Their 
institutions are slandered, their tenets perverted, their at¬ 
tachment and fidelity to their country denied, the public in¬ 
dignation and proscriptive measures openly invoked against 
them ; and, did we not know that we live in the nineteenth 
century—that we tread the American soil—that we breathe 


74 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


the free air of a republic—that the march of religious tolera¬ 
tion is onward—we might fear a return of those dark and 
bloody times when the fiend of persecution reared his hor¬ 
rid head and appalled the world. The press wafts on her 
mighty wings, and spreads, in every place, from Maine to 
Florida, contempt and distrust for Catholic principles, 
Catholic practices, Catholic institutions, and, what is still 
more alarming, the persons of Catholics. The journalist, 
the novel-writer, the essayist, and the divine unite to bring 
about this same end, and to crush the devoted Catholic. 

“ In several parts of the Union, our religious papers have 
done much to counteract the evil. But, as the attack is, so 
the defence should be, commensurate with our soil. Upon 
every point stands an enemy, therefore from every point 
should spring a friend and protector. 

“ With these views, and with due acknowledgment of the 
merits of our already established periodicals, we offer the 
Catholic Advocate to the West, to Kentucky, and principally 
to our brethren in the faith. 

“ Our object is not attack, but defence. There is no sec¬ 
tarian rancor, no fanatical zeal in us. We cheerfully grant 
to others what we claim for ourselves—freedom of con¬ 
science, freedom of debate, and unmolested enjoyment of 
equal rights. 

“ We say to our brethren in Kentucky—Arouse and sup¬ 
port your own cause; you will not appeal in vain to the 
intelligence, equity, and constitutional spirit of your coun¬ 
trymen ; an opportunity is now offered you of dispelling the 
dark cloud of prejudice which overhangs the minds of many. 
Give the Catholic Advocate , by a general support, extensive 
circulation and power. Let that paper be in the house of 
every Catholic in this State. If it fail because you will not 
have supported it; if your name continue to be a by-word 
of scorn, accuse not Protestant prejudices, charge not the 


Religious Journalism . 


75 


times with error and bigotry, blame not your country, but 
yourselves, who sit silent and unconcerned whilst your ene¬ 
mies brand upon you—‘ Traitors and Idolaters.’ ” 

Religious journalism was at this time in its infancy. A 
quarter of a century before, there was not a newspaper in 
America devoted to the interests of any church or denomina¬ 
tion of Christians. The influence of the press in defending 
and propagating faith was comparatively unknown. It was 
but twelve years since Bishop England had established the 
Catholic Miscellany , which Archbishop Hughes called the 
first really Catholic journal in the United States. When 
the Advocate was founded, there were but four Catholic 
newspapers in the country. These were the Catholic Mis¬ 
cellany , of Charleston; the Truth-Teller, of New York; the 
Catholic Herald, of Philadelphia; and the Catholic Telegraph, 
of Cincinnati.* 

Others, such as the Shamrock , the Jesuit, and the Green 
Banner, had come into life, and, after a short and feeble ex¬ 
istence, had died. The youfig editors of the Advocate were 
not, however, discouraged. 

Sperat infestis, metuit secundis 
Alteram sortem bene preparatum 
Pectus. 

They had faith in the mission of the religious press in this 
age, and especially in this country. 

With Americans, Dr. Spalding used to say, newspaper 
reading is a passion which amounts to a national charac¬ 
teristic. In the Propaganda the American students were 
proverbial for their eagerness to get hold of journals, whether 
religious or secular. Now, he argued, this craving must be 
satisfied. If we do not furnish our people with wholesome 
food, they will devour that which is noxious. Pie believed 
the American people to be frank, honest, and open to con- 
* There was also a German Catholic newspaper in Cincinnati —Der 
IVahrheitsfre und. 


76 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


viction. Their dislike or hatred of the church he ascribed 
to misapprehension or ignorance of her history and teach¬ 
ings. Hence he believed that if the truth were placed 
before them plainly, simply, and fearlessly, it could not fail 
to make a favorable impression upon them. He therefore 
thought that to the Catholic press in the United States had 
been given a providential mission of the greatest importance. 

Americans have not time, or will not take the trouble, as 
a general thing, to read heavy books of controversy. Com¬ 
paratively few Protestants ever enter our churches, and, 
even when there, everything seems strange, and the sermon 
intended for Catholics most frequently fails to tell upon 
those who have not faith. And yet we must reach the non- 
Catholic mind. “ The charity of Christ urges us.” Apathy 
means want of faith, want of hope, want of love. Besides, 
the church must act intellectually as well as morally. If it 
is her duty to wrestle ever with the corrupt tendencies of the 
human heart, to point to heaven when men seek to see only 
this earth, to utter the indignant protest of the outraged 
soul when they would fain believe themselves only animals; 
it is not less a part of her divine mission to combat the in¬ 
tellectual errors of the world. We observe in the history 
of the church that periods of intellectual activity are almost 
invariably characterized by moral earnestness and religious 
zeal. On the other hand, when ignorance invades even the 
sanctuary, and priests forget to love knowledge, the blood 
of Christ flows sluggishly through the veins of his spouse, 
and to the eyes of men she seems to lose something of her 
divine comeliness. Indeed, there is an essential connection 
between the thoughts of a people and their actions, espe¬ 
cially in an age like ours ; and, if we suffer a sectarian and 
infidel press to control the intellect of the country, our 
words will fall dead and meaningless upon the hearts of our 
countrymen. When Dr. Spalding entered upon the duties 


Religious Journalism. 


77 


of the ministry, Protestantism was just assuming that aggres¬ 
sive attitude towards the church which finally culminated 
and, in a great measure, spent itself in the Know-Nothing 
movement. It was the period that developed the contro¬ 
versies of Hughes and Breckinridge, and Purcell and 
Campbell, in both of which the foremost champions of the 
Protestant cause met with signal defeat. The almost unani¬ 
mous verdict of Catholics at the present time is, so far as 
I know, that these discussions proved most useful to the 
church. Protestantism was defiant, Catholics were calum¬ 
niated, and the doctrines of the church were treated as 
obsolete superstitions of a bygone, barbarous age, which no 
one would dare defend before an impartial audience in the 
nineteenth century. Catholics were not only thought to be 
idolaters, but in some parts of the country the ignorance of 
the people represented them even as a kind of monsters. 
English Catholic literature was extremely poor, the neces¬ 
sary result of three centuries of relentless persecution of 
the church wherever the English language was spoken—a 
persecution of such nature that it rendered it almost impos¬ 
sible for Catholics to receive an education and yet retain 
their faith. 

The young men who, in England and Ireland, and even 
in this country, aspired to the priesthood, were forced to 
go to the Continent of Europe to prepare themselves for 
the reception of holy orders. It is not, therefore, surpris¬ 
ing that, even as late as the time of Bishop Milner, the 
priests of England should have been proverbially ignorant 
of their own language. In our own country, many of the 
early missionaries were foreigners, who, though admirably 
endowed with all the qualities that make true apostles, yet 
labored under the serious disadvantage of being imperfectly 
acquainted with the language of the people among whom 
their lot was cast. 


78 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


That in this state of things God raised up in his church 
a race of men who were able triumphantly to defend her, 
even against the most gifted adversaries, was certainly pro¬ 
vidential. It was already much to be able to show the 
Protestants of that day that Catholics had nothing to fear 
from the public discussion of the grounds of their faith. 
Catholics, however, in this country have never provoked 
religious controversy, and have reluctantly consented to 
enter into it, even when compelled to do so. Shortly after 
his return from Rome, Dr. Spalding had reason to believe 
that he would be drawn into a public discussion with a 
Protestant minister who was eager to show his skill in de¬ 
bate. Having mentioned this in a letter to Bishop Ken- 
rick, of Philadelphia, he received from him the following 
reply : 

“ Our controversy here is at an end ; yours, I hope, is 
not begun. Little good is to be expected from discussions 
with men who are resolved at all hazards to win a triumph. 
Although it is acknowledged that the Rev. Mr. Hughes 
was vastly superior to his adversary in sound argument 
and all that should mark clerical debate, yet Catholics 
generally think and feel that the priesthood is lowered by 
such contests. I reluctantly tolerated it.” 

However much the amiable and gentle nature of Bishop 
Kenrick might cause him to regret the asperities of reli¬ 
gious controversy, he could not but feel that, considering 
the circumstances of the times, it was impossible to re¬ 
main silent in presence of the belligerent attitude of the 
enemies of the church. One of the most important works 
with which he has enriched Catholic literature grew out of 
a controversy which had been forced upon him. 

No one could be more averse to controversy of any kind 
than Dr. Spalding; but, from the first year of his priesthood 
down to the day of his death, he never remained silent in 


Religious Journalism, 


79 


the presence of the calumniators of his faith, and he never 
suffered an attack upon the doctrines or history of the 
church, proceeding from a source worthy of notice, to pass 
without reply. Sincerely loving the free institutions of 
his country, he could not think that, whilst all the world 
was writing and speaking, Catholics alone should be silent. 
He had too much faith in the candor and sense of the 
American people to doubt that anything but good could 
come of the frank and fearless defence of Catholic truth 
before them. As free institutions provoke thought, en¬ 
quiry, and the consequent collision of minds, they render 
intellectual contests a necessity. And hence, humanly 
speaking, it is impossible that the representatives of any 
system of doctrines should maintain their ground in a free 
country unless they enter into the public thought of the 
country and meet their adversaries on the broad field of 
its intellectual life. The great and far-seeing mind of Car¬ 
dinal Wiseman perceived this truth, and he acted upon it 
in England with the happiest results. In the Tractarian 
movement, when the Church of England was divided within 
itself, and her own children were engaged in the most lively 
controversies with one another, prudent and timid Catholics 
counselled their brothers to abstain from all interference in 
what, as they supposed, did not concern them. 

Far from accepting these counsels of fear, Cardinal Wise¬ 
man, with the co-operation of Daniel O’Connell and others, 
founded the Dublin Review , precisely that he might be able 
to enter into the intellectual contest which was then agi¬ 
tating the Anglican Establishment. 

Referring to this in after years, when Anglicanism had 
been forced to give up to the church so many of its most 
devoted and gifted sons, he wrote: 

“ But even in that first bud of the rising power, it was 
impossible for a calm and hopeful eye not to see new signs 


8o 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


in the religious firmament which it became a duty to ob¬ 
serve, unless one wished to incur the divine reproach ad¬ 
dressed to those who note not the providential warnings and 
friendly omens of the spiritual heavens. For a Catholic to 
have overlooked all this, and allowed the wonderful phe¬ 
nomenon to pass by, not turned to any spiritual purpose, 
but gazed at till it died out, would have been more than 
stupidity—it would have been wickedness. To watch its 
progress; to observe its phases; to influence, if possible, its 
direction ; to move it gently towards complete attainment of 
its unconscious aims; and, moreover, to protest against its 
errors, to warn against its dangers, to provide arguments 
against its new modes of attack, and to keep lifted up the 
mask of beauty under which it had, in sincerity, covered the 
ghastly and soulless features of Protestantism ; these were 
the duties which the new Review undertook to perform, or 
which, in no small degree, it was expressly created to dis¬ 
charge.” 

The whole civilized world, to-day, is agitated by ques¬ 
tions much deeper and more general than those which 
occupied the thoughts of the Oxford Tractarians. Protes¬ 
tantism has drifted out from among the vital issues of the 
age. As a system of doctrines, it is a mere wreck. Ques¬ 
tions which concern the fundamental and primary truths of 
all religion now fill the minds of thinking men. These 
questions are no longer confined to the pages of heavy and 
unwieldy volumes, read only by students. No sooner does 
a serious book appear, seeming to throw light upon doubt¬ 
ful points, than its results are epitomized by the reviewer 
and the essayist, and thus made the theme of conversation 
in the select circles of the better educated classes. From 
the quarterlies and monthlies they find their way, in a 
diluted form, into the daily press, where they are spread 
before the devouring eyes of the millions. The whole 


Religious Journalism. 81 

secular press, with its thousand mouths, proclaims, without 
ceasing, by day and by night, errors which imply the nega¬ 
tion of God and of the soul, the subversion of religion and 
society. May we not say, with Cardinal Wiseman, that it 
would be worse than stupidity, it would be positive wicked¬ 
ness, for Catholics to remain idle spectators of this conflict 
of the church with the world, of truth with error ? The 
school question is certainly one of vital importance in our 
country and age; but is the education received in the 
school-room the only, or is it even the chief education ? 
Does not society, does not the literature of a country, does 
not the press educate ? 

Dr. Spalding, with that practical wisdom which so emi¬ 
nently belonged to him, saw, as by intuition, the great work 
which the press in this country was destined to perform in 
defending and propagating Catholic truth; and he there¬ 
fore, from the very first year of his priesthood, labored ear¬ 
nestly to extend its influence and to elevate its character. 
He wrote almost constantly for the Catholic Advocate , espe¬ 
cially during the earlier years of its existence, though his 
contributions to the press were by no means confined to its 
columns. He wrote for the United States Catholic Maga¬ 
zine, , the Catholic Cabinet, the Metropolitan , and other peri¬ 
odicals. For several years he was one of the editors of the 
Metropolitan , in which many of the essays and reviews 
afterwards published in the Miscellanea, made their first 
appearance. In his letters to the Propaganda, to which I 
have already referred, he makes frequent allusions to his 
efforts to defend and propagate Catholic doctrine by means 
of the press. In 1858, the Advocate having ceased to ap¬ 
pear several years before, Bishop Spalding founded the 
Louisville Guardian, which he placed under the editorial 
control of a committee of laymen. 

He communicated his views concerning the new journal 


82 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


in a letter to Archbishop Kenrick, from which I make the 
following extract: 

“ We are about to start a new Catholic paper here—the 
Guardian . It will be edited by a committee of Catholic 
laymen, who will take control of it under the auspices of 
the St. Vincent’s Society. We intend to work for freedom 
of education and for the poor, to try to do something 
towards arresting the great evil of our day—the ruin of 
Catholic children. The great seat of this ruin is in your 
Eastern cities. Hundreds and thousands of these youths 
come out here lost for ever. God help our poor children ! ” 

Notwithstanding the many cares and labors of the epis¬ 
copal office, Bishop Spalding found time to write something 
for almost every number of the Guardian, down to the 
time when the occupation of Kentucky by hostile armies 
rendered the suspension of its publication necessary. No 
enterprise to extend the influence of the Catholic press 
ever failed to meet with his most cordial approval. One of 
the reasons for which he so greatly desired to see a Catholic 
university founded in the United States, was that he be¬ 
lieved it would become an intellectual centre which would 
give to the Catholic press of this country a position and a 
power which no efforts that have hitherto been made have 
been able to obtain for it. 


CHAPTER VII. 


PRESIDENT OF ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE—PASTOR OF ST. 
PETER’S CHURCH, IN LEXINGTON—DIOCESE OF NASH¬ 
VILLE. 


N 1838, by the unanimous vote of the Board of 
Trustees of St. Joseph’s College, Dr. Spalding 
was chosen President of that institution. He 
had been pastor of the cathedral for four years. 
God had blessed his labors, and he was contented. He, 
moreover, greatly preferred the duties of the ministry to 
those which devolve upon the president of a college. He, 
however, accepted the office contrary to his own wishes, at 
the urgent request of Bishop Flaget, with the understand¬ 
ing that he should be permitted to resign whenever another 
capable of taking the position could be found. Bishop 
Flaget, finding that he was anxious to return to what he 
considered a more apostolic life, permitted him to retire 
from the college at the end of two years, and immediately 
appointed him pastor of St. Peter’s Church, in Lexington, 
Kentucky. 

Lexington lies on a fork of the Elkhorn River, in the 
heart of one of the most beautiful and fertile districts in 
the world, the famous Blue Grass region of Kentucky. 
When Dr. Spalding was sent there, in 1840, it was the 
second city in population in the State. It was also the 
seat of Transylvania University, the oldest institution of 
learning in the West. The people were wealthy, and had 
that kind of pride with which new-gotten riches nearly 







84 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


always infect character; but, above all, they were tho¬ 
roughly Protestant. 

Lexington was the home of Clay, who was Kentucky’s 
hero in those days, when a Kentuckian was nothing if not 
political. It was the home, too, of the Breckinridges, who, 
besides being politicians, were the doughty champions of 
Protestantism. There were few Catholics in that part of 
the State, and Dr. Spalding’s missionary field extended 
over eleven counties, through which he travelled in every 
direction in search of the lost sheep that lay hidden in the 
dense forests, which the feet of them that announce the 
glad tidings had then but seldom trodden. Many who had 
practically abandoned the church, having strayed beyond 
the reach of its influence, were brought back by his untir¬ 
ing labors, and induced to reconcile themselves with God. 
Many, too, who had contracted marriage contrary to the 
laws of the church, were induced byjiis touching appeals 
to make right what had been faulty in the contract, and 
thus whole families were saved to the faith. 

An incident which happened whilst Dr. Spalding was 
pastor of Lexington is worthy of record, as illustrating the 
force of early example, especially in a mother, even after 
years of sin and forgetfulness of duty have apparently 
erased all trace of impressions made during the innocence 
of childhood. A stranger, who had just arrived in Lexing¬ 
ton, was taken quite ill. He was a Catholic in name, but 
for years had done nothing which would prove that his faith 
was not dead. Dr. Spalding, hearing of his sickness, visited 
him, and was soon made acquainted with the sad state of 
his soul. He sent two Sisters of Charity, who had recently 
established a house in Lexington, to remain with him and 
to nurse him. No kindness, however, made any impression 
on him, and he obstinately refused to be reconciled with the 
church. He rapidly grew worse, and soon saw himself that 


Pastor of St. Peters Church , in Lexington . 85 


he had not much longer to live; but still he could not be 
induced to think of preparing himself to meet God. He 
left messages for his absent friends, and gave directions as 
to what should be done with the little articles which he had 
with him. Among these was a small crucifix, which had 
belonged to his mother, and which his veneration for her 
memory had caused him religiously to preserve. This he 
gave to one of the Sisters, with the request that she would 
keep it, mentioning the fact that it had belonged to his 
mother. This incident suggested to the Sister the thought 
of endeavoring to lead his mind back to the days when a 
pious mother watched over him, and when the faith which 
he had been taught by her lips gave peace and happiness to 
his soul. The Sister’s words were not spoken in vain. The 
memory of his mother had opened his heart to the grace of 
God, and he at once asked to see Dr. Spalding, from whom 
he received the sacraments with every sign of the most 
lively faith and heartfelt sorrow. As he was a freemason, 
he publicly renounced all connection with the society, and 
asked to be buried with the rites of the church. 

On another occasion, a destitute clergyman, who had just 
come from Ireland to the diocese of Nashville, and who was 
travelling for his health, was taken so ill in Lexington that 
he was unable to go further. Dr. Spalding had but one bed 
in the little room which he occupied, as a boarder, in a 
Catholic family. He immediately brought the sick priest 
to his room, gave up his bed to him, and remained with 
him almost constantly, even watching by his side through 
the night, for several weeks, until death relieved his poor 
brother of his sufferings. 

Dr. Spalding was an earnest advocate of popular missions 
as a means of arousing the slumbering faith and devotion 
of Catholics. Whilst a student in the Propaganda, he had 
sought, in an especial manner, to prepare himself to preach 


86 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


retreats, after the plan of St. Ignatius. Shortly after he was 
sent to Lexington, he caused a mission to be given to his 
congregation there, which was productive of the most 
salutary effects. During the fall and winter of 1840, he 
delivered a course of fifteen lectures on ecclesiastical his¬ 
tory, in the Catholic church in Lexington. These lectures 
were delivered from notes containing an abstract of the 
views which he proposed to develop. In his first discourse, 
he sought to establish the supernatural character of the 
Christian religion, by showing from the history of its strug¬ 
gles and triumphs during the first three centuries that a 
divine Power must have presided over its birth and early 
existence. In his second lecture, he took up the history of 
the New Testament writings, and showed that, in the age 
of the foundation of the church, the principle of authority 
had been accepted and acted upon by the apostles and 
disciples of Christ. He then, in succession, treated of the 
form of government in the Primitive Church; of the councils 
of the first three centuries, and the heresies which they had 
condemned ; of the overthrow of the Roman Empire by the 
Northmen, and of their conversion to Christianity; of Mo¬ 
hammedanism ; of the Crusades ; of chivalry and the mili¬ 
tary orders; of the Spanish Inquisition; and concluded 
with a discourse on the rise and progress of civil liberty in 
Europe. 

These lectures were well received by all classes of persons 
in Lexington, which, in that day, with true provincial con¬ 
ceit, called itself the Athens of the West. During this 
year, Dr. Spalding received into the church about thirty 
converts. His interest in this class of Catholics was always 
very great. A physician of some prominence, who lived in 
Georgetown, Ky., and who had been received into the church 
some years before, apostatized whilst Dr. Spalding was pas¬ 
tor of the church in Lexington, and sent him a long letter 


Pastor of St. Peters Church , in Lexington . 87 


in defence of the step which he had taken. To this com¬ 
munication Dr. Spalding made the following reply: 

“Dear Sir: 

“ I received your letter a few days ago, but my duties 
have not, until now, permitted me to acknowledge the favor. 
When I first heard the sad intelligence of your having aban¬ 
doned the church of all ages and nations, to a knowledge of 
and belief in which you had been called by a signal provi¬ 
dence of God, I could scarcely believe it. My surprise was, 
the greater from the fact that when I saw you a few days 
before, I had no intimation of any such intention; on the 
contrary, the impression remaining upon my mind from the- 
conversation I had with you was that you were still a firm 
believer in the tenets of the Catholic Church. When the 
news of your defection was confirmed in such way that I 
could no longer but credit it, I must say that I was pained 
and grieved to the very heart. My dear friend, I cannot 
give expression in this short letter to all that I feel; but I 
hope soon to see you, when we will speak more fully, and I 
am sure in the spirit of Christian charity, of this whole: 
matter. God alone, of course, knows your heart, as he alone 
will judge you. In a few years we shall both be arraigned' 
before his dread tribunal to receive from his infallible lips 
our doom for eternity. On that awful day, I hope that 
nothing will be laid to my charge, at least on the score of 
negligence; and that I may comply with my duty in this 
matter, you will pardon me for proposing in all humility of 
heart to your consideration the following points: One article 
of the Apostles’ Creed which you profess still to hold is this 
I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. Now, can you sup¬ 
pose for a moment that a sect which sprang up but yes¬ 
terday, and is confined to one corner of the globe, is or can. 
be the Catholic or universal church ? 


88 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


“ It has universality neither of time nor place. It is 
eighteen hundred years too young to be the church which 
Christ founded and the apostles built up. You will admit 
that Christ established but one church, which he commanded 
all to hear under penalty of being considered heathens and 
publicans ; that he so secured this church, which he built 
upon a rock , by his infallible promises, that the gates of hell 
■can never prevail against it; that he sent his Holy Spirit to 
teach it all truth and to remain with it for ever, he himself 
at the same time abiding with it all days, even to the end 
•of the world. Is it possible, in the light of these truths, to 
believe that the whole Christian world has been in error 
until the present century? You must admit that salvation 
is attainable in the old church ; what assurance have you 
that it is possible in any other? The Bible, from which 
Protestants profess to draw their whole religion, can be 
proved to be the word of God not otherwise than by the testi¬ 
mony and authority of the Catholic Church, from which they 
received it. If the church is to be heard as to the founda¬ 
tion, why not also as to the details of faith ? My dear friend, 
I beg you to weigh seriously before God these and other 
considerations which will suggest themselves to you. You 
will, I doubt not, appreciate my motive in thus addressing 
you : it is not with a view of giving you pain, or engaging 
in useless controversy, but solely with the hope of causing 
you to reflect more seriously upon the course which you 
have, I fear, too hastily taken.” 

Unfortunately for the progress of the church in this part 
of Kentucky, changes took place in the diocese which ren¬ 
dered it necessary to recall Dr. Spalding to Bardstown, after 
he had been in Lexington but fifteen months. 

For some years Bishop Flaget had entertained the idea 
•of transferring his episcopal see to Louisville. He had con- 


Diocese of Nashville. 


89 


ferred with the Holy Father on this subject while in Rome 
in 1836. Bardstown, the cradle of religion in the diocese, 
and for a long time the centre of the Catholic population of 
the State, was, at the time of his appointment, the fittest 
point for the location of the see. A quarter of a century, 
however, had wrought a great change. Louisville, which 
when he first came to Kentucky was an unimportant place 
with a small floating population of nominal Catholics, had 
now become the largest city in the State ; and the Catholics 
had grown in proportion, both in numbers and religious 
earnestness. Everything indicated that it was destined to 
be the great commercial emporium of Kentucky, and con¬ 
sequently the centre of its Catholic population. Hence, 
however much Bishop Flaget regretted to leave Bardstown, 
which had been his home for so many years, and where 
he had founded such splendid institutions, he yet felt that 
the good of religion demanded the sacrifice. The Pontifical 
Rescript authorizing the translation of the see to Louisville 
was received early in 1841, and the Bishop removed thither 
with his coadjutor towards the close of that year. Father 
Reynolds, his vicar-general, who had been pastor of the 
cathedral in Bardstown since Dr. Spalding’s appointment to 
Lexington, had preceded him some months in order to pre¬ 
pare the way. The people of Bardstown naturally felt 
aggrieved by the removal of the see ; and the Bishop, in 
order at least in some measure to compensate them for the 
loss, recalled Dr. Spalding, and placed him again in charge 
of the old cathedral. It was about this time that Dr. 
Spalding seriously entertained the thought of devoting his 
life to the missions in the poor and newly-organized diocese 
of Nashville, Tennessee. When Bishop Miles was appointed 
to that see, in 1838, there was not a priest in the diocese. 

Zealous missionaries from Kentucky had occasionally 
visited the scattered Catholics of Tennessee, who were in 


90 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


the greatest spiritual destitution. Dr. Spalding himself had 
gone on this mission of charity through various parts of the 
State. I have heard him relate how in these journeyings 
he once stopped at a farm-house, and to his great surprise 
found that the family were Catholics, still strong in the faith, 
though they had not seen a priest for many years. He re¬ 
mained with them for several days ; instructed and baptized 
the children, and administered the sacraments to all who 
were old enough to receive them. Thus, from his own per¬ 
sonal observation, he had been made acquainted with the 
great need of priests in Tennessee. In a letter which he 
wrote, in the name of Bishop Miles, to the Archbishop of 
Vienna, to thank him for a gift which, through him, had 
been obtained for the diocese of Nashville from the Leopold 
Society, he said : “ The Bishop has neither priest nor deacon, 
neither house nor money, so that to him may be applied in 
all truth what was said of the Saviour of men—‘ he has not 
where to lay his head.’ ” 

Bishop Miles was more than anxious that Dr. Spalding 
should devote himself to the missions of Tennessee. He 
represented to him the immense good to be accomplished 
there, especially by priests who were able to preach in an 
attractive and forcible manner. Everywhere throughout 
the State the people manifested an earnest desire to be 
informed concerning the teachings of the church. Wher¬ 
ever the visit of a priest was announced, it at once became 
the absorbing topic of conversation, and when he arrived 
churches and court-houses were thrown open to him, and 
crowds flocked to hear him. The novelty which everything 
Catholic possessed for these people had doubtless not a little 
to do with their eagerness to see and hear the priest. Their 
minds, however, were not obstinately shut against the light 
of truth ; and we cannot but think that a rare opportunity 
for doing great things for the church existed at that day in 


Diocese of Nashville . 


9 i 


Tennessee, could priests have been found to do the work. 
Such, at least, was the opinion of Dr. Spalding, and he 
willingly consented to turn his energies in this direction. 
Having informed Bishop Miles of his desire to enter his 
diocese, he received from him the following letter, dated 
February 29, 1840: 

“ Reverend and Dear Friend : 

“Your very kind and much esteemed favor has been 
received, and has afforded me great consolation. The very 
thought that you will, probably before a great while, be 
among the clergy of my poor and heretofore cruelly neg¬ 
lected diocese, gives me a pleasure which I cannot express. 
As I expect soon to see you, I shall not now enter into par¬ 
ticulars, but desire you to recommend the matter earnestly 
to Almighty God. The time of the council is approaching, 
and if you will be kind enough to accompany me as theo¬ 
logian, you will not only add another to the many favors 
which I have already received at your hands, but you will 
have a better opportunity of consulting with the assembled 
prelates on the propriety of joining the mission of Tennessee. 

. . . The young man whom you sent me has arrived. 

He seems to be well disposed, and will, I hope, prove useful. 
Another has just reached here from Georgia, and our semi¬ 
nary has commenced with this small beginning. God will 
yet bless our efforts.” 

Dr. Spalding wrote to the Cardinal-Prefect of the Propa¬ 
ganda, setting forth his reasons for wishing to go to Nash¬ 
ville. He also consulted Bishop Kenrick on the subjects 
from whom he received the following reply: 

“ I am pleased with the favorable state of things in the 
West, and wish an increase of that kind feeling which is 
mutually cherished. Your interest in Nashville is praise¬ 
worthy. However, I should deem it inadvisable to move 


92 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


without the approbation of the Propaganda, especially after 
having consulted the Prefect. I am of the opinion that 
your removal thither, with the consent of Bishop Flaget, 
would not be any violation of your duty; but it is better 
to have th.e actual approval of the Cardinal.” 

What the answer of the Propaganda was I do not know; 
but since Dr. Spalding did not leave the diocese of Louis¬ 
ville, it may be conjectured that it was unfavorable. He, 
however, remained the lifelong friend of Bishop Miles, and 
did everything in his power to encourage and assist him in 
his arduous mission. In the winter of 1843, he delivered a 
course of lectures in Nashville to crowded and delighted 
audiences, numbers being unable to find accommodation in 
the church. Not only the Catholics, but also many of the 
most respectable Protestants of the city, came to hear him. 
Such w r as the impression produced by his discourses that he 
was waited on by the literary societies of the city, and 
invited to lecture before them. Glad of any opportunity to 
announce the truth and dispel error, he accepted the invi¬ 
tation, and a correspondent, writing from Nashville to the 
Catholic Advocate, says that such audiences as attended 
these lectures had never before been seen in that city. In 
the fall of 1847, he preached the sermon at the dedication 
of the Cathedral of Nashville, and delivered there a second 
course of lectures. 

In a letter to the daughter of John J. Crittenden, Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding relates an incident of his first visit to Nash¬ 
ville, in 1840, which portrays the intense political excite¬ 
ment of that time, as well as the enthusiastic fondness for 
popular eloquence which existed among the people of the 
Southwest. No Athenian or Roman audience ever yielded 
themselves to the charms of eloquence with more passionate 
love than the people of Kentucky, in the day of Clay, and 
Marshall, and Crittenden. 


Diocese of Nashville . 


93 


“ Baltimore, December 26, 1870. 
“My Dear Mrs. Coleman: 

“As I am not a civilian, but a clergyman, I feel some 
reluctance in complying with your request to write out the 
substance of what I related at the elegant breakfast of out 
mutual friend, Dr. Samuel D. Gross, in Philadelphia, on the 
9th of August, in regard to your venerable father, John J. 
Crittenden. I recalled that reminiscence as a Kentuckian 
whose State pride was all aglow, when remembering an 
incident among the popular forensic efforts of one of Ken¬ 
tucky’s most eloquent sons. The facts, briefly referred to 
on that occasion, are, in substance, as follows: 

“ Finding myself accidentally in Nashville in August, 
1840, whither I had gone for purposes of recreation, I was 
induced by my friends to attend the great Southwestern 
Whig Convention. Mr. Crittenden was to be the chief 
orator of the day, Mr. Clay having spoken the day before. 
I went, not as a politician, for I took no interest in politics, 
but as a Kentuckian, anxious to hear a brother Kentuckian 
speak, and I was well repaid. Though thirty years have 
elapsed, I have not forgotten the deep impression made 
upon my mind by one of the most brilliant and impas¬ 
sioned bursts of oratory it has ever been my privilege to 
listen to, either in Europe or America. The whole scene is 
before me now, fresh and vivid as on that morning when I 
stood enraptured by your father’s eloquence. I still hear 
his silvery voice; I still hear the acclamations of thirty 
thousand people, whose very souls he commanded and bore 
along with him throughout his masterly oration. Mr. Crit¬ 
tenden had taken a low stand on the platform, and I still 
hear the cry: ‘ Higher, higher, Mr. Crittenden ! Go up; we 
wish to see your whole stature !’ And as he went higher 
upon the stand, so he rose higher and higher in eloquence. 
He took up every cry of that vast audience (as, when he 


94 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


was about to close, they threw to him first one and then 
another of the great political questions of the day) and rang 
the changes upon it, becoming more and more grand in elo¬ 
quence at every step of his physical and moral elevation, 
showing that he and his audience were one. I particularly 
remember his comparing the outcry of the people for a poli¬ 
tical change to an avalanche rushing down from the summit 
of the Alleghanies to the East and to the West, and bearing 
all before it. This brilliant figure was carried out, till the 
immense multitude made the welkin ring with their ap¬ 
plauding shouts. Seldom have I witnessed such a success. 
I well remember, also, the acclamations with which Mr. 
Clay and himself were greeted by the multitude on their 
departure from Nashville. Mr. Clay spoke first, from the 
guard of the steamer, with his usual grace and eloquence ; 
then the cry was, ‘ Crittenden, Crittenden !’ Your father 
stepped forward, and, in his most happy manner, he said 
(smiling and bowing to Mr. Clay) : 1 1 suppose this flattering 
greeting is chiefly owing to the good company in which I 
have the privilege to be found !’ ‘ Not at all!’ shouted the 

multitude, ‘ not at all; it is for yourself! Come again; 
come alone next time, and we will prove it to you !’ This, 
my dear Mrs. Coleman, is the substance of what I related at 
Dr. Gross’s of the great Southwestern Convention.* 

“ Faithfully yours, 

“ M. J. Spalding, 

“ Archbishop of Baltimore.” 

* Life of J. J. Crittenden , by his daughter, Mrs. C. Coleman, page 129 . 


CHAPTER VIII. 


DR. SPALDING IS APPOINTED VICAR-GENERAL—THE LOUIS¬ 
VILLE “LEAGUE” — HIS LABORS AS A LECTURER AND 
PREACHER. 

HEN Bishop Flaget determined to remove the 
see of the diocese to Louisville, he recalled Dr. 
Spalding, as I have already stated, from Lex¬ 
ington, and replaced him in charge of the old 
cathedral at Bardstown, where he remained for three years, 
doing the work of a parish priest, and, at the same time, 
writing for Catholic reviews and journals. 

The appointment of Father Reynolds to the see of 
Charleston, in 1844, left the post of Vicar-General in the 
diocese of Louisville vacant, and Dr. Spalding was called 
to fill this responsible office. Bishop Flaget was over eighty 
years of age, and quite feeble. The health of his second 
coadjutor, Dr. Chabrat, had not been good for some time, 
and he was now threatened with loss of sight. He had 
gone to Europe to seek medical advice, but had received 
little encouragement to hope that he would find relief from 
the malady from which he was suffering. 

Having no reason to believe that he should ever again be 
able to perform the duties of his office, he wrote to Rome, 
offering his resignation. The Holy Father referred the 
matter to the approaching Provincial Council of Baltimore, 
which was to meet in 1846. The Fathers of the Council 
declined to advise the acceptance of Bishop Chabrat’s resig¬ 
nation. In the meantime, his disease grew no better, and 
he resolved again to visit Europe. 





g6 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

On his arrival in Paris, the oculist whom he had pre¬ 
viously consulted declared that unless he resigned his 
charge and remained in France, he would in a short time 
become hopelessly blind. The Papal Nuncio in Paris, to 
whom the case had been stated, wrote to the Holy See, 
recommending the acceptance of Bishop Chabrat’s resigna¬ 
tion, and he was shortly after relieved from his office as 
Coadjutor of the Bishop of Louisville. 

The great age of Bishop Flaget, and the infirmity of 
Bishop Chabrat, threw nearly the whole administration of 
the affairs of the diocese upon Dr. Spalding from the very 
time of his appointment as Vicar-General. 

The cathedral in Louisville had already become a point 
of great attraction, not only to Catholics, but also to a large 
and intelligent class of Protestants. Its choir was the 
best in the city, and its pulpit had acquired a name for 
eloquence of a high order. It had been filled by the Rev. 
I. A. Reynolds, late Bishop of Charleston; the Rev. John 
McGill, late Bishop of Richmond, and the Rev. Father 
Larkin, of the Society of Jesus, all of whom were men not 
only of solid attainments, but also of real eloquence. 
Father McGill was still pastor of the cathedral, and he 
and Dr. Spalding began a course of Sunday-evening 
lectures, each occupying the pulpit in turn. The suc¬ 
cess with which lectures of this kind had been attended 
in Lexington, encouraged the hope that they would here 
also be productive of good results. The subjects chosen 
were ecclesiastical history and the dogmatic teachings of 
the church. On the first night, the cathedral was filled to 
overflowing, and the interest seemed to increase with each 
Sunday evening’s lecture. Many Protestants went to the 
cathedral, and the attendance at the ministrations of the 
preachers was, in consequence, small. These reverend gen¬ 
tlemen took alarm, and called a meeting to devise some 


The Louisville “ League . 


97 


plan for counteracting the effect which the discourses in the 
cathedral were producing. 

The result of their deliberations was the organization of 
the Louisville Protestant League. The members of the 
League were the Rev. W. L. Breckinridge, a brother of the 
Rev. John Breckinridge, the opponent of Archbishop 
Hughes, the Rev. E. P. Humphrey, and the Rev. W. W. 
Hill, of the Presbyterian Church; the Baptists were repre¬ 
sented by the Rev. A. D. Sears and the Rev. Thomas S. 
Malcolm; whilst the Methodist champions were the Rev. G„ 
W. Brush and the Rev. H. H. Cavanagh. 

Each member of the League bound himself to lecture in 
turn on the abominations of Popery. With the exception 
of Dr. Breckinridge, they interchanged pulpits. As he had. 
a fine church and a rich congregation, he preferred to hurl 
his bolts at Antichrist and the Woman of Sin from his own 
Olympus. One of his lectures was delivered before an au¬ 
dience composed exclusively of men. The subject was, of 
course, the confessional. 

As the exponent of the dogmas of the church, it fell 
chiefly to the lot of Father McGill to repel the assaults of 
the League. His logical mind and skill in argument would 
have rendered him a formidable adversary in any cause. He 
was thoroughly conversant with polemical theology, and he 
took great pains to inform himself minutely of the objections, 
advanced by the League preachers. They were marked 
by the ignorance and blundering which seem to be in¬ 
evitable whenever Protestants undertake to attack the 
church. He therefore found no difficulty in exposing their 
misstatements and confounding their sophistry. Father 
McGill was also a master of satire, which he used with 
great effect in this controversy. The crowds that flocked to 
the cathedral were, if possible, greater now than before. Men 
and women, unable to get seats, stood in the aisles of the 


98 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


church, densely packed, up to the very railings of the sanc¬ 
tuary. Hundreds of Protestants, who, in other circumstances, 
could not have been induced to enter a Catholic church, 
came to hear the persuasive eloquence and forcible argu¬ 
ments of Father McGill and Dr. Spalding, and thus many 
prejudices were overcome and the seeds of future conver¬ 
sions were sown.* 

Another and much greater good effected by these lectures 
was that they aroused the spirit of the Catholic body, and 
caused them to feel a pride in their faith, of which they had 
not hitherto been conscious, and thus they became more 
earnest, more ready to organize and co-operate with their 
zealous pastors in building up the church, and helping on 
the cause of truth and religion. 

Dr. Spalding’s official duties, now that he was stationed 
at the cathedral in Louisville as Vicar-General of the 
diocese, were more onerous than they had hitherto ever 
been. He nevertheless found time to devote to other 
works in the interest of religion than those to which his 
position properly obliged him. 

He developed greater activity, both as a lecturer and 
writer on Catholic subjects, than he had up to this time 
manifested. He continued to write for the Advocate , and 
also prepared monthly one or more essays for some Catholic 
magazine. During the winters of 1844-45, 1846-47, 1847- 
48, he delivered courses of lectures in the cathedral of 
Louisville on general and special theology, and on Catholic 
worship. He wrote in full only the first series of these 
lectures, which he published under the title of Evidences 
of Catholicity. His experience had led him to think that 
Sunday-evening lectures, in which the plain and forcible 
statement and proof of Catholic doctrines are made, without 

* I am indebted to the Hon. B. J. Webb, of Louisville for this account 
of the “League.” 


His Labors as a Lecturer and Preacher. 


99 


seeking controversy or assuming an aggressive attitude 
toward the sects, are generally attended with the happiest 
results to the cause of Catholic truth, especially in our large 
cities. Republican institutions develop a fondness for 
public speaking, and, in virtue of the law of supply and 
demand, they create orators. Although the art of printing 
and journalism, and the consequent more general education 
of the masses, have opened to those who desire to inform 
themselves upon the various questions, whether of great or 
small moment, which the current of events presents to the 
attention or curiosity of men, other and easier channels of 
knowledge, and have thus taken from oratory somewhat of 
the charm and influence which belonged to it in Greece and 
Rome, they have, however, by no means deprived it of its 
great power over the mind and heart. Orators no longer 
control public opinion, but they still have something to do 
with forming it on many of the most important matters 
which come up for discussion. 

In the religion of Christ, eloquence has a special and 
divine mission. He blessed it and bade it convert the 
world when he commanded the apostles to go and teach 
all nations. This high office he entrusted not to the writ¬ 
ten, but to the spoken word; and, though from him alone 
comes conversion, yet, in this as in other things, he works 
through human agencies, which become the occasions of 
grace. Other things, too, give to the priest special privi¬ 
leges here. The old conception of the orator, which defines 
him to be a good man skilled in the art of speaking, should 
be, one would think, more easily and fully realized in him 
than in other men. He is not, as De Maistre has said of 
the ministers of Protestantism, merely a respectable man 
clothed in black, but all the circumstances of his life tend 
to render him sacred, even in the eyes of the unbelieving. 
Separated from the world from early youth, devoted to a 


IOO 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


life of study and prayer, without wife or children or secular 
entanglement, the very sacrifices which his vocation im¬ 
poses upon him witness to the sacredness of his character, 
the elevation of his thoughts, and the power over the hearts 
of men of the truth which he preaches. That seriousness 
and earnestness which are so essential to the orator are 
implied in the very idea of the priesthood. To these must 
be added the supernatural strength of conviction which 
Catholic faith alone gives. Who does not perceive here 
the immense advantages which the Catholic has over the 
Protestant speaker? To be a Protestant is to hold opi¬ 
nions ; to be a Catholic is to have convictions. The waver¬ 
ing, uncertain, and changing nature of Protestantism takes 
from the ministers of that religion that perfect and un¬ 
doubting faith in the doctrines which they preach which is 
so essential to true eloquence. This defect in the preacher 
is increased by the attitude of those to whom he speaks, 
who regard him not as a divinely ordained minister, but 
merely as the more or less plausible advocate of his own 
religious theories. And yet preaching is the central act in 
Protestant worship, without which it would have no attrac¬ 
tiveness and no life. The true Protestant idea of a church 
is that of a lecture-hall; and the introduction of Catholic 
architecture into Protestant houses of worship is an act of 
unfaithfulness to the fundamental doctrines of the Refor¬ 
mation. This is evident from the fact that, where Protes¬ 
tants imitate the church in the architectural structure of 
their religious edifices, the natural logic of the human mind 
inclines them to supply what such a style of architecture 
implies—as the altar, the priest, the sacerdotal robes, and 
the ceremonial which these suppose. But, to return, since 
Protestantism has no sacrifice, no real presence of Christ, 
preaching becomes the most important feature in its pub¬ 
lic worship. And, since the preacher is regarded chiefly 


His Labors as a Lecturer and Preacher . ioi 


or solely from a human stand-point, it is essential that he 
should preach well. Eloquence commands the highest 
price in Protestant churches. The barometer of a congre¬ 
gation is its pulpit. It rises or falls with the preacher. 
The law of supply and demand comes into play here, and, 
since in the great centres of commerce and population the 
highest price is paid for pulpit oratory, thither the best 
ability in the Protestant ministry gravitates. Hence, in the 
large cities of the United States the pulpits of the more 
wealthy churches are filled, if not always by orators, at 
least by good speakers. Now, there are vast numbers of 
people in this country who, on Sunday evening, are as will¬ 
ing to go to hear a Catholic as a Protestant sermon, pro¬ 
vided they have a reasonable hope of hearing what they 
call a good sermon. Firmly persuaded that we have the 
truth, and earnestly desiring that all men should be brought 
to the knowledge of it, it is not a little gain to find men 
willing to listen to us in defence of our faith. Even should 
we not convert them, we can at least show them that on 
earth there is nothing grander, more venerable, more worthy 
of love than the church on whose brow “ time writes no 
wrinkle.” Impressions will be made, prejudices dissipated, 
and thoughts suggested which will gradually, aided by 
God’s grace, work their way into the heart and produce 
conviction. The preacher himself may never know it, 
“ alius est qui plantat et alius qui merit]' but the work is 
done. To the Catholic orator the world has never pre¬ 
sented a finer field than that which lies before him in this 
country to-day, and if we intend to do the work that God 
demands of us, we must prepare ourselves with greater care 
for this mission. The importance of thorough training in 
the art of public speaking to those who aspire to the priest¬ 
hood cannot be exaggerated. Although much has been 
done in this direction—more, possibly, than might have 


102 


Life of Archbishop Spalding 


been expected, in view of the difficulties with which our 
priests have had to contend—still much remains yet to be 
done. Hitherto, our seminaries, and to a great extent our 
colleges, have been in the hands of men to whom English 
was a foreign language—admirable men, from the priceless 
value of whose labors I certainly do not wish to detract 
aught, but from whom it would have been unreasonable to 
expect that intimate acquaintance with the language and 
habits of thought and expression of our people absolutely 
required in those who would successfully train the young 
men destined for the ministry in this country in the art of 
public speaking. In the future, greater attention will be 
paid to this important branch of ecclesiastical education. 
Chairs of sacred eloquence will be founded in our semina¬ 
ries, and special teachers in reading and elocution will be 
employed, and thus the influence of the Catholic pulpit 
over the religious thought of the country will become far 
greater than it has hitherto ever been. 

Whether or not these reflections have any value, the better 
judgment of my readers will decide. They have been sug¬ 
gested by the example of the subject of this biography. He 
certainly felt that the priest, as the preacher of God’s truth, 
has a special mission in this country—a mission not to 
Catholics alone, but, like that of St. Paul, to Jew and to Gen¬ 
tile, to Greek and to Barbarian, to the slave and to the free¬ 
man ; and again, as in the case of the great Apostle of the 
Nations—woe to him if he does not preach, for he is bound 
to preach. No bishop or priest in the United States has 
probably ever been more indefatigable or inexhaustible as 
a preacher or lecturer than Dr. Spalding. For more than 
thirty years he lectured repeatedly on almost every subject 
in any way connected with Catholic history or teaching, not 
only in his own native State, but in nearly all the large cities 
of the country. His voice was heard, time and again, in 


His Labors as a Lecturer and Preacher . 103 


New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington City, New 
Orleans, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and other cities. He lectured 
also in Canada. 

During his long career as a public lecturer, he never lost 
the popular favor, and rarely ever failed to be greeted by 
audiences generally composed, in part, of non-Catholics. 

Even in Louisville, where he was so well known, and 
where he so often spoke, his lectures were always well 
attended. As a preacher, he was even more active. For 
years he preached at the late Mass in the cathedral of Louis¬ 
ville on Sundays, when not absent visiting the diocese or on 
other business. In making the visitation of the various con¬ 
gregations under his jurisdiction, he always preached and 
frequently lectured once or twice in each parish. He was 
often more really eloquent and persuasive in addressing the 
simple people of some remote and small congregation than 
on more solemn occasions. It has frequently happened to 
me in travelling through different parts of Kentucky to be 
told by both Catholics and Protestants of sermons preached 
probably twenty years before by Dr. Spalding. Not only 
did the impression still remain, but the subject, and even 
the arguments advanced, or the points made, were remem¬ 
bered. He loved too to give missions, and to preach retreats 
in convents, academies, and colleges. He gave retreats to 
his own clergy and to the clergy of Cincinnati, Detroit, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and possibly other dioceses ; and, 
according to the testimony of persons who took part in 
these holy exercises, he conducted them in the most satis¬ 
factory manner. His greatest delight was to preach to the 
young ; and few, indeed, have ever possessed in so eminent 
a degree the faculty of instructing children. He could at 
once place himself en rapport with them, win their confi¬ 
dence, and hold their attention. His manner was always 
characterized by simplicity and naturalness ; but on these 


104 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


occasions he seemed himself to become a child again, only 
holier and wiser than the rest. The tone of his voice, his 
gestures, his sudden exclamations, his merry laugh, all be¬ 
spoke the untroubled joy and innocence of childhood. For 
many years he gave the annual retreat to the pupils of 
Nazareth Academy, conducted by the Sisters of Charity and 
long known as one of the most successful schools of the 
West or South ; and occasionally he preached the retreat for 
the students of St. Joseph’s College. Dr. Spalding was not 
an impassioned speaker, nor yet was his manner cold or 
unemotional. His discourses were seldom characterized by 
vehement and fervid eloquence, or by those bursts of pas¬ 
sion which electrify an audience until it becomes a passive 
instrument in the hands of the orator, who plays upon it 
like some skilful musician, now touching the chord that 
vibrates sweetest joy, and now that which thrills the deepest 
notes of woe. The style is the man, say the French; and 
this is certainly true of Dr. Spalding, considered as a 
speaker. He was direct, clear, and simple. His manner 
and tone of voice were familiar and natural, but never 
without grace and dignity. 

His appearance was prepossessing. He was above the 
average height, full-chested, and endowed with a perfectly 
developed physique. His whole countenance expressed the 
unpretending, kind-hearted, sympathetic man. His features 
were finely chiselled; his brow was large and open, and his 
eye full of intelligence. His voice was pleasant, and his 
enunciation wonderfully distinct. Every syllable he uttered 
was heard even in the largest and most crowded buildings. 
He rarely failed from the very start to win the good-will and 
confidence of an audience. His personal appearance, his 
unassuming yet dignified bearing, the frank and straightfor¬ 
ward manner in which he took hold of his subject, his love 
of truth and justice and liberty, his sympathy with whatever 


His Labors as a Lecturer and Preacher. 105 

was good or noble, all combined to enlist the feelings of his 
hearers in his behalf. Thoroughly American, without, how¬ 
ever, any of the narrowness of nationalism, he loved his 
country, and was proud of its history. The descendant of 
forefathers who for nearly three centuries had been forced 
to suffer in silence every outrage and injustice for their faith, 
he loved especially those principles of American liberty 
which gave to Catholics not only freedom of religious wor¬ 
ship, but the right to defend and uphold the teachings of 
their church. Belonging to the first generation of American 
Catholics whom circumstances had permitted to receive an 
education in their own country, he was devoted to the 
struggles and triumphs by which the new state of things 
had been brought into existence. Especially did he glory 
in the part which Catholics had taken in the War of Indepen¬ 
dence. In that struggle with a nation which, while talking 
much of liberty, has persecuted perhaps more than any 
other, we received, as he loved to recall to the minds of his 
countrymen, the timely assistance of Catholic France and 
Poland ; and the “ Maryland line " in every battle, from 
Brooklyn Heights to Yorktown, fought with unequalled 
heroism ; whilst Commodore Barry, whom Washington 
appointed to form the navy of the United States, was an 
Irish Catholic. At a time when the national feeling was 
most intense, when its ardor had not yet been cooled by the 
horrors of civil war, or weakened by sectional strife, the 
public was much more exacting in its demands on the patri¬ 
otism and loyalty of those who sought to win its favor than 
now, when even the very words by which we would express 
sentiments of this kind have lost their charm. 


CHAPTER IX. 


POPULAR OBJECTIONS TO THE CHURCH—DR. SPALDING’S 
MANNER OF ANSWERING THEM. 

HE great objection to the church, in the minds of 
the American people, during the period of which 
I am speaking, was historical rather than doctri¬ 
nal. Absurd notions of Catholic doctrine were, 
it is true, very common. Still, people were averse to the 
church rather from what they conceived to be the tendency 
of Catholic institutions, than from any clear notion that 
Catholic doctrines were false. The dominant thought of 
the country, as of the age, was political and social, not reli¬ 
gious. Never had so vast a field, one so teeming with 
wealth and so inviting to enterprise, opened before an active 
and intelligent race, as our forefathers beheld here in the New 
World. The natural advantages and resources of the country 
developed in them an extraordinary energy and industry, 
which rarely failed to be rewarded with success. Bold, inde¬ 
pendent, self-reliant, they rose up and with comparative 
ease threw off the yoke of the mother country, and formed 
themselves into a Republic under a constitution which, in 
their estimation at least, embodied the perfection of human 
wisdom in all that relates to government. The growth and 
prosperity of the new Republic were unprecedented, and 
the national pride grew in proportion. When we beheld 
cities spring up in a night from dismal swamps as by the 
enchanter’s wand, and broad fields, teeming with richest har¬ 
vests, smile where but awhile ago the primal forest frowned, 




Poptilor Objections to the Church . 107 

whilst our ships covered the seas and our flag waved in every 
port, it was but natural that there should have been an 
uncontrollable outburst of national enthusiasm, which caused 
us to think ourselves the greatest and most favored people 
of the world. A new people, living in a new world, we had 
learned to look with contempt upon all that was old. We 
were the heralds of a dawn which promised a new life to the 
race. Knowing but little of the history of the past, our 
ignorance added to our self-conceit. We looked upon those 
ages which had prepared for us the blessings which we were 
enjoying as ignorant, superstitious, and barbarous. And 
the church, which during long centuries had fought for 
liberty, for law, for order, for civilization, was, in the minds 
of the American people, associated with the very opposite 
of all this. 

The anti-Catholic prejudices of Englishmen had been in¬ 
herited by their American descendants, who found it much 
easier to emancipate themselves from political subjection 
to the mother country, than to assert their intellectual inde¬ 
pendence and renounce the legacy of religious hate which 
had been bequeathed to them. The English Government, 
not content with murdering Catholics and confiscating their 
goods, had done all that it was possible to do to make them 
what it desired they should be—ignorant, superstitious, and 
disloyal. Public opinion with regard to Catholics had been 
so thoroughly perverted throughout the English-speaking 
world by a system of organized calumny, that no crime, 
however nefarious, could be imputed to them which the 
misguided masses were not ready to believe. They were 
persuaded that the Papists had burned London once, and 
that they only awaited the opportunity to burn it again ; 
that they had planned a scheme to set fire to all the ship¬ 
ping in the Thames; that they were ready to rise, at a sig¬ 
nal, and massacre all their Protestant neighbors; that they 


io8 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

were plotting to assassinate the king, and murder all the 
leading divines of England. These lies readily found cre¬ 
dence with the masses, and they suited the designs of un¬ 
principled and tyrannical statesmen too well not to be 
encouraged by them. In the British Provinces of North 
America, public opinion was scarcely less unfavorable to 
Catholics than in England. 

During the whole period of our colonial history, Catholics 
were persecuted, not indeed so generally or with the same 
relentless cruelty as in England, but still they were kept in 
bondage and regarded with suspicion; and even when they 
were allowed to live in peace, it was rather from indifference 
than from any feeling that they were worthy of toleration. 
In Maryland even, where they had proclaimed civil and reli¬ 
gious liberty, they were doomed to see themselves deprived 
of all rights, and subjected to the most vexatious persecu¬ 
tion. By successive acts of the Provincial Assembly, they 
were denied the right of public worship, were compelled to 
contribute to the support of the Anglican clergy, were for¬ 
bidden to teach, and disqualified from holding civil offices 
unless they took an oath which implied a denial of their 
faith. This state of things continued almost to the break¬ 
ing-out of the War of Independence. The Revolution, 
which sprang from hatred of England, and the emergency of 
the crisis, for the moment caused internal jealousies to be 
forgotten, and all united against the common enemy. The 
Convention of 1774, in its appeal to the country, entreated 
all classes of citizens, by their duty to God and the nation, 
to forget all religious disputes and animosities, that they 
might all assist in the defence of their common rights and 
liberties. The causes which finally brought about the in¬ 
sertion of the article forbidding Congress to interfere with 
the freedom of religious worship are enumerated by Arch¬ 
bishop Carroll, to whose wise and enlightened counsels the 


Popular Objections to the Church . 


109 


result is partly attributable. “ Many reasons,” he says, 
“ concurred to produce this happy and just article in the 
new constitutions. First, some of the leading characters in 
the direction of American councils were by principle averse 
to all religious oppression ; and having been much acquainted 
with the manners and doctrines of Roman Catholics, repre¬ 
sented strongly the injustice of excluding them from any 
civil right. Secondly, Catholics concurred as generally, and 
with equal zeal, in repelling that oppression which first pro¬ 
duced hostility with Great Britain, and it would have been 
impolitic as well as unjust to deprive them of a common 
share in advantages purchased with common danger and by 
united exertions. Thirdly, the assistance, or at least the 
neutrality of Canada was deemed necessary to the success 
of the United States, and to give equal rights to the Roman 
Catholics might tend to dispose the Canadians favorably 
towards the Americans. Lastly, France began to show a 
disposition to befriend the United States, and it was con¬ 
ceived to be very impolitic to disgust that powerful king¬ 
dom by unjust severity against the religion which it pro¬ 
fessed.”* 

It is evident from this passage that the toleratibn of the 
Catholic Church under the Constitution was, in the begin¬ 
ning, the result of circumstances which American Protestants 
could not control, rather than of any good-will, on their part, 
towards Catholics; and as the principles, upon which the Con¬ 
stitution rests, began to impress themselves more clearly 
upon the minds of the people, it became evident to all that 
they were wholly incompatible with any interference on the 
part of the state in matters of religion, and thus, the liberty 
once granted to the church, was consecrated by its association 
with the fundamental laws of our government. The Protes- 

* MS. relation of Bishop Carroll on origin and condition of Catholics 
in the United States. 


IIO 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

tants, however, very generally, still retained the anti-Cath- 
olic prejudices of a former generation. At the time of 
the Revolution, the church had no existence in any of the 
colonies except in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The few 
Catholics who had settled in the other colonies, not being 
allowed to profess their religion, dissembled or became mem¬ 
bers of some one or other of the sects. Thus, in nearly all 
the British provinces in America, Protestants held undis¬ 
puted possession of the religious ground. They had no 
intercourse with Catholics, and the little knowledge which 
they had of the church was derived from sources thoroughly 
tainted and corrupt. English history, for more than two 
centuries, had been a conspiracy against the truth in all 
that related to the church. There was no Catholic English 
literature, or, at least, none accessible to the reading public 
of this country, or which, even had it been within their 
reach, was of a kind to attract their attention or meet their 
objections. The most absurd and preposterous views con¬ 
cerning the history of the church in the Middle Ages were 
accepted as being beyond dispute, and no one ever thought 
of questioning their correctness. The church was repre¬ 
sented as having always been the ally of ignorance and 
tyranny, and the enemy of the people. She had kept the 
nations in ignorance, and had, with the most obstinate per¬ 
sistence, opposed all progress. The civilization, enlighten¬ 
ment, and liberty of modern times were attributed exclu¬ 
sively to the Reformation, which was the herald of the new 
dawn after the night of ages. To the prejudices of the Old 
World were added others peculiar to our own social and 
political condition. The church, it was said and believed 
by nearly all Protestants, was the creation of emperors and 
kings, under whose protection she had grown powerful, but 
without which she could not exist. Hence, it was argued, 
Catholics must necessarily be hostile to republican insti- 


Dr. Spalding s Method of Answering Them, in 

tutions. Indeed, so incompatible were Catholicism and 
republicanism thought to be that our proud countrymen 
looked upon Catholics with more of contempt and pity than 
of alarm. It was not considered possible that the church 
could ever become strong here. Liberty and enlightenment 
would necessarily prove fatal to her; and her children, it 
was confidently believed, leaving behind them their political 
creed to adopt the principles of this free Republic, would 
soon also disengage themselves from the shackles of their 
religious faith. Protestantism had not then become in the 
United States the feeble and intangible thing it now is, and 
its influence upon the thought of the country was very 
great. The preachers, made reckless by impunity, hesi¬ 
tated not to impute the most absurd and impossible doc¬ 
trines and practices to Catholics, and their words were 
received without questioning by minds prepared to believe 
anything, however monstrous, of men whom they had been 
taught to regard as worse than idolaters. The great work 
of the Catholic apologist in this country, in the generation 
which preceded ours, was to clear away the debris and 
rubbish with which false history and ignorant prejudices 
had sought to obscure and disfigure the whole life of the 
church. And it was to this task that Dr. Spalding ad¬ 
dressed himself, both as a lecturer and as a writer. Each 
country, as well as each age, has its peculiar phases of 
thought, which must be taken into consideration by those 
who seek to influence public opinion. One of Dr. Spalding’s 
chief merits as a public teacher was, that he fully understood 
the character of the persons whom he sought to enlighten. 
An American, he knew his countrymen, and admired them; 
a Catholic, he loved his religion, and was convinced of its 
truth. That, in his person, between faith and patriotism 
there was no conflict, was manifest. He loved his country 
all the more because he was a Catholic, and he was all the 


I I 2 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


sincerer Catholic because no mere human authority was 
brought to influence the free offering of his soul to God’s 
service. He accepted with cheerful courage the position in 
which God had placed his church in this young Republic, 
and he asked for her, not privilege or protection, but jus¬ 
tice, common rights under the common law; and such was 
his confidence in God, and in the truth of his cause, that he 
had no doubt as to the final issue of the struggle of religion, 
free and untrammelled, with the prejudices of a people who, 
however erroneous and mistaken their views might be, were 
still fair-minded and generous. Admiring much in the past, 
he still did not think that all was lost because that past was 
gone. Let the old, he thought, the feeble, the impotent 
complain ; those to whom God gives youth and strength 
must act; and the church is ever young and ever strong. 
God is infinite strength, and of this attribute, as of his 
others, his spouse participates. If the latest word of phi¬ 
losophy, both in metaphysics and natural science, is force; 
if the old theory of inertia has been dropped, since the 
power of analysis has shown that everywhere there is action, 
motion, force ; let it be so. The church, too, is strength. 
She has a force and an energy of her own. Daughter of 
heaven, she has brought on earth some of that divine 
efficacy by which all things were made. Christ is the 
strength of God, and from his cross he poured into the 
heart of his spouse, together with his life-blood, his god¬ 
like power. 

He knew that the church which sprang from the conflict 
of the God-man with death, like him, manifests her highest 
power in her struggles with the princes of this world. Like 
the life of man, that of the church is a warfare. He had 
read her history too attentively not to understand that she 
cannot but take part in the struggle between good and evil, 
vice and virtue, truth and error; between the cause of God 


Dr . Spaldings Method of Answering Them. 113 

and that of Satan, which is- found wherever there are human 
beings. The march of the church through the world and 
through the ages is not along pleasant roads, leading 
through delightful scenes and peaceful prospects; or, if 
so, only at times and rarely. If she move in pomp and 
worldly greatness amid the acclamations of peoples and of 
nations, her triumph not unfrequently ends in sorrow and 
humiliation. The road wherein her progress is most secure 
is the way of the cross, because her strength comes from 
humility, from poverty, from lowliness. 

The difficulties of our position in this country forty years 
ago neither alarmed nor discouraged Dr. Spalding. He had 
the most living faith in the indefectible vitality of the 
church. Others might believe that she was feeble with 
age, that the shadow of death was upon her, that the light 
of science, thrown into her dimly-lit sanctuary, would dispel 
the charm which for so many ages had held captive millions 
of hearts ; but he knew that she was strong and beautiful 
as when first she came from the hands of God, and that, if 
the veil with which ignorance and passion had sought to 
hide her divine countenance could but be lifted, the world 
would again kneel before her and ask to be forgiven. 

Without entering into the complex and delicate question 
of the proper relations of the church and state, he accepted 
the actual position of the church in this country with thank¬ 
fulness and without mental reservation. In this matter, he 
neither blamed the past nor sought to dictate to the future, 
but put his hand to the work which God had placed before 
him. He saw all that was to be done, and, without stop¬ 
ping to reflect how little he could do, he began at once to 
do what he could. Taking a moderate, and possibly a just, 
estimate of his own ability, he considered that his mission 
as a writer and public teacher demanded that he should be 
useful and practical rather than original or profound. Hence 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


114 


he neither wrote nor spoke for posterity, but for the genera¬ 
tion in which he lived. His first aim was to remove the 
prejudices which false history and a perverted literature 
had created in the minds of his countrymen. The influence 
of the church on society, on civilization, and on civil liberty 
was wholly misunderstood; her services in the cause of 
learning, of art, and of commerce were ignored; her undy¬ 
ing love for the poor and the oppressed were forgotten. 

She had been the greatest school of respect the world had 
ever seen ; to her woman owed her position in Christian 
society, and all the sacred privileges with which public 
opinion surrounded her; to her the family was indebted 
for its civilizing and sanctifying power ; her monks had pre¬ 
served the literature of the Greeks and Romans, and had 
been almost the only lovers of knowledge in a barbarous 
age. They had reclaimed the waste land of Europe, and 
had been the chief agents in causing the warlike barbarians 
to settle down and become peaceful tillers of the soil; they 
too, together with the bishops and popes of the church, had 
inspired all the wisest and most humane legislation of the 
Middle Ages. And yet, all these services were forgotten, 
and in the minds of the masses of the American people the 
influence of the church upon the world was identified with 
the opposite of all that is good. Hence it was all-impor¬ 
tant to place her history in its true light, and to refute the 
slanders and calumnies with which, during three centuries, 
she had been assailed with impunity, because Catholics, at 
least those whose native language was English, had not been 
allowed to repel the attacks of their revilers. 

Dr. Spalding felt it to be his duty to become the apolo¬ 
gist of his faith, according to the measure of ability which 
God had given him, before the American public. 

The essentially illogical nature of Protestantism would, he 
knew, soon undermine its influence, whilst the free institu- 


Dr. Spaldings Method of Answering Them. 115 

tions of this country would act as dissolvents upon the loose 
organizations and uncertain doctrines of the various oppos¬ 
ing sects, whose only bond of union is the negation implied 
by their common name. As a system of religious belief,. 
Protestantism was already losing its hold on the minds of 
the people, who were both confused and scandalized by its. 
hesitating and doubtful attitude towards the positive dog¬ 
mas of Christianity. It was useless, therefore, to show that 
the Bible alone, without a living authority, could not form 
the basis either of religious unity or faith, when the history 
of the sects was day by day rendering this perfectly mani¬ 
fest even to the most inattentive observers. Hence, he sought, 
less to refute Protestantism than to prepare the way for 
Catholic truth, by seeking to enlighten public opinion con¬ 
cerning the real nature and spirit of the church. Many of 
his best essays, such as those on Literature and the Arts -• 
in the Middle Ages, Schools and Universities in the Dark 
Ages, and The Influence of Catholicity on Civil Liberty 
were written with this view. In these essays, Dr. Spalding 
presents, in a popular form, and in a style remarkable for 
simplicity and ease, the facts which show the incalculable 
value of the services rendered by the church to the cause of 
progress and civilization during those centuries in which she- 
contended, single-handed, against barbarism and ignorance.. 
That no one may object to his statement of facts, he addu¬ 
ces the testimony of impartial non-Catholic writers of Ger¬ 
many, France, and England to prove that the church was. 
the only safeguard of society at a time when its very foun¬ 
dations seemed shaken. 

The following outline will give us some idea of his. 
manner of dealing with this subject: 

All the nations of Europe received their religion from the 
church, who alone converted them from paganism, and to* 
their religion they are indebted for their civilization. Since 


ii6 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

(Christ, only Christian nations have been civilized. The 
church saved Europe from Mohammedanism, which would 
have drowned all the noble aspirations of her Christian peo¬ 
ple in indolence and debauch. 

By placing Mary, the Mother of Jesus, before the eyes of 
•all men as the ideal woman, the church taught them to 
honor her whole sex; and through this restoration of woman 
to her proper sphere in society, she exercised a beneficent 
influence on the morals and literature of European nations. 

Even the extravagances of chivalry were not without cer¬ 
tain good results. Female influence prompted not only to 
deeds of valor, but also stimulated to triumphs of intellect; 
the delicate hand of woman wove not alone the chaplet 
which decorated the warrior's brow, but also the laurel and 
the ivy wreath which adorned the brow of genius. To show 
more fully the great services rendered to society by the 
church, he enters into details, and proves that all the essen¬ 
tial elements of our modern civilization first came into 
existence during the time when she controlled the destinies 
of Europe. Long before the advent of Protestantism, the 
European mind was active in every department of human 
knowledge ; the spirit of invention and discovery had mani¬ 
fested itself; and men were fast attaining to a more thorough 
knowledge of God’s material universe. The modern lan¬ 
guages, in all their richness and strength, had been formed, 
giving certain proof of the progress of the people in refine¬ 
ment and taste. The art of printing had been invented, 
schools and universities had been founded, the mariner’s 
■compass had been applied to purposes of navigation, and 
America, the land of promise, had been discovered ; whilst 
commerce, under the fostering care of the Italian Repub¬ 
lics, had begun to promote that interchange of the products 
■of the earth which was destined one day to bind together 
the nations of the world in bonds of sympathy and love. 


Dr. Spaldings Method of Answering Them. 117 

The Christian nations were on the certain road of progress, 
and had they but remained united in faith, their advance¬ 
ment would have been both more rapid and more uniform. 
The effect of the advent of Protestantism was to disturb the 
natural march of European civilization, by introducing ele¬ 
ments of discord, which broke up the brotherhood of na¬ 
tions, and led to centuries of persecution and war, the evil 
effects of which are still felt. Add to this that the reli¬ 
gious and political divisions of Europe stopped the progress 
of the faith among pagan nations, at a time when the day 
seemed near at hand when all the world would be Christian, 
and we will be able to perceive how the true progress of 
the whole race was retarded by Protestantism. This is but 
a feeble statement of the leading arguments by which Dr. 
Spalding sought to vindicate the church from the charge of 
opposition to progress and civilization. Every reader is, at 
present, more or less familiar with this whole question, which 
has been exhaustively treated by many and .able writers, 
so that even the more intelligent Protestants are now pre¬ 
pared to admit the great services which the church has 
rendered to society. This, however, was not the case when 
Dr. Spalding wrote his essays on this subject, which, though 
not remarkable for depth of thought or originality of appre¬ 
ciation of facts, had the great merit of presenting, in a 
popular and forcible manner, the claims of the church upon 
the gratitude of all honest and fair-minded men; showing, 
at the same time, that the cause of progress, properly un¬ 
derstood, had nothing to fear from her influence. Appear¬ 
ing at a time when the Catholic controversy in this country, 
especially in its political and social aspects, was at its height, 
they were read by both Catholics and Protestants, and doubt¬ 
less produced a salutary effect upon public opinion. 


CHAPTER X. 


APPOINTED BISHOP OF LENGONE, IN PART. INFID., AND 
COADJUTOR OF BISHOP FLAGET—DEATH OF BISHOP 
FLAGET—STATE OF THE DIOCESE AT THE TIME OF 
DR. SPALDING’S CONSECRATION. 



ISHOP CHABRAT’S resignation, as we have 
already seen, had been accepted by the Holy 
See in 1847. He was at the time in France, 
and he never afterwards returned to the United 


States. 

The whole burden of the diocese of Louisville again 
fell upon the shoulders of Bishop Flaget, who was over 
eighty years old, and completely broken by his long and 
untiring labors on the missions of Kentucky. His infirmi¬ 
ties and extreme old age rendered him absolutely incapable 
of attending to the duties of his office, as he, with that 
perfect humility and self-forgetfulness so characteristic of 
his whole life, was the first to recognize. To be thus, left 
to bear a weight of responsibility to which, in his helpless 
condition, he felt himself wholly unequal, caused his ex¬ 
quisitely sensitive nature to suffer most acutely. Speaking 
of this period of his life, Dr. Spalding says: “He spent 
most of his time in prayer. From his lips audible sighs 
would often break forth deploring what he called his utter 
‘ nullity ’ {ina nullitf), and the impossibility in which he 
found himself, from almost continual vertigo, of thinking 
of any serious business. Yet in all things he was fully 
resigned to the will of God, and his accustomed ejacula- 






Appointed Bishop of Lengone . 


119 


tions at the end of all his prayers and sighs were: ‘ May 
the good God be praised ! May his holy will be done!’ ” 

The interests of the diocese demanded that a new coad¬ 
jutor should be appointed as soon as possible. There were 
congregations which the Bishop had not visited for several 
years, and numbers were, in consequence, waiting to receive 
the sacrament of confirmation; whilst the slumbering faith 
and zeal of the Catholic population in general called for 
some one capable of infusing new life and vigor. 

Bishop Flaget, in this state of affairs, naturally turned to 
Dr. Spalding as the person best fitted to relieve him of a 
responsibility to which he was no longer equal. Dr. Spal¬ 
ding had now been laboring in the diocese with great 
earnestness and success for nearly fourteen years. By his 
talents, his learning, and the blamelessness of his life, he 
had won the respect and admiration of all. He was still 
young, but he was already known far beyond the limits of 
his native State both as a preacher and writer of more than 
ordinary ability. Identified with the diocese by birth, by 
education, and by every natural sympathy, his frank, open 
character and genial manners gave him peculiar advantages 
for laboring with success amongst his own people, who 
were not only proud of him, but loved him. He had 
for several years occupied the second highest position 
in the diocese, at a time when, owing to circumstances 
already mentioned, the chief responsibility of the eccle¬ 
siastical administration devolved upon him; and his con¬ 
duct had been characterized by great prudence and wis¬ 
dom, united with a practical understanding of the de¬ 
tails of business. He was thoroughly conversant with the 
whole history of the church in Kentucky, as well as with 
the wise and enlightened views of the noble and apostolic 
men to whom, under God, it was indebted for its present 
condition. He had grown up at the feet of Flaget and 


120 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

David, had imbibed their spirit, and was filled with that 
disinterested and self-sacrificing zeal which, if not found in 
the bishop, will most generally be sought for in vain in his 
priests. He was a student, but had never allowed his de¬ 
votion to books to interfere with the discharge of the active 
duties of the ministry. Everything, in a word, seemed to 
point to him as the one destined by God to take from the 
failing shoulders of the saintly patriarch of the West the 
burden which they were no longer able to bear. He had, 
indeed, been thought of in connection with the episcopacy 
some years previous to this time, as will be seen from the 
following letter from the Rev. Dr. White, written in Sep¬ 
tember, 1845, with a view to dissuade Dr. Spalding from 
withdrawing his name as one of the editors of the Catholic 
Magazine : 

“ I received your very acceptable communication but two 
days since, and after some reflection on the plan which you 
have been thinking of, in regard to the magazine, I have come 
to the conclusion that it would be better for its interests 
that you should continue your name, as at present, in 
connection with mine. This can be done without sub¬ 
jecting you to the necessity of furnishing an article every 
month. As you are, in the public estimation, a 1 doctor 
optimus , ecclesice sanctce lumen? your connection with the 
magazine will contribute to its circulation, while the with¬ 
drawal of your name, at the end of the year, would afford 
a pretext to many persons for discontinuing their subscrip¬ 
tions. ... I foresee, and I know from an official source , 
that you will be soon, perhaps before the next council, pro¬ 
moted to the episcopacy. Then, I presume, you will with¬ 
draw from the magazine, and, in my opinion, this would be 
the most favorable occasion for doing so. It is to be hoped, 
however, that you will always co-operate in supporting its 
usefulness.” 


Appointed Bishop of Lengone . 


I 2 I 


Bishop Chabrat had offered his resignation when this let¬ 
ter was written, and the official information concerning Dr. 
Spalding’s promotion was, doubtless, based upon the sup¬ 
position that Bishop Flaget would at once need another 
coadjutor. Bishop Chabrat, however, was not permitted to 
resign until 1847, and Dr. Spalding’s appointment was in 
consequence delayed. When, at length, the time came to 
select a successor to Bishop Chabrat, Dr. Spalding’s promo¬ 
tion met with opposition in certain quarters, as the following 
letter of Bishop Miles, written in Baltimore, in May, 1848, 
will show : 

“ Right Rev. and Dear Friend : 

“ I reached this city on Saturday, and was very kindly 
received by the Archbishop, who soon introduced the sub¬ 
ject which of late has given your friends so much uneasiness. 
He showed me a letter from Bishop Flaget, in reply to one 
which he had written on this vexed question. Bishop Flaget 
has agreed to leave the whole matter to the Archbishop of 
Baltimore and Bishop Kenrick of Philadelphia, and they 
have both written to Rome in terms which will cause all 
hesitation to cease. I hope your health has improved, and 
that in our next Provincial Council Kentucky will be repre¬ 
sented by one of her own sons.” 

A few weeks after this letter was written, the Bulls 
appointing Dr. Spalding Bishop of Lengone, in partibus 
infidelium , and Coadjutor of the Bishop of Louisville, cum 
jure successions , were made out in Rome, and were received 
by him on the Feast of St. Laurence, the 10th of August, 
1848. 

They were handed to him before the altar of the old 
cathedral, in a very impressive and solemn manner, by the 
venerable Bishop Flaget, who announced his intention of 


122 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


consecrating him himself in spite of his feeble health, that 
he might thus, by the last official act of an episcopal life 
extending over forty years, place the crown upon all his 
labors, and leave to the church, which he had founded and 
built up, a worthy pastor in the son who had grown up at 
his side, and who had been the staff of his declining age. 

After receiving the Bulls, Dr. Spalding entered into a 
spiritual retreat, in order to prepare himself, by prayer and 
holy recollection, for the worthy reception of the plenitude 
of priestly power. The consecration took place on the 
Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, the loth of September, 
1848. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Flaget, 
assisted by the Bishops of Philadelphia and Nashville. The 
Archbishop of St. Louis preached the usual sermon, taking 
as his subject the nature and perpetuity of the apostolic 
ministry. The day was one of great festivity in Louisville. 
From an early hour the cathedral was thronged, and many 
remained outside, being unable to gain admission to the 
sacred edifice. 

The ceremony lasted for three hours, and at its close 
Bishop Flaget returned to his room, completely exhausted, 
saying, with evident emotion, “ Now will I sing the canticle 
of holy Simeon—‘ Now dost thou, O Lord, dismiss thy 
servant in peace.’ ” Even the noblest and most Christian 
souls not unfrequently find great difficulty in realizing that 
the time has come when they should retire from the re¬ 
sponsibility of office, in order henceforth to lead the life of 
prayer ‘‘hidden with Christ in God.” We cling with such 
tenacity to power and the thought of our own importance, 
that when increasing years and infirmities warn us, to use 
the expression of Bishop Flaget, of our approaching nullity, 
we fret and worry, and are loath to confess, even to our¬ 
selves, that for us God’s providence has sounded the signal 
of retreat from the active duties of life. Even they who 


Death of Bishop Flaget. 


123 


have labored most zealously in the cause of religion are 
sometimes exposed to this temptation, allowing the evening 
of lives, which should be devoted to repose and contempla¬ 
tion, to be disturbed by anxious restlessness. To my mind, 
not the least of the many proofs of the exalted virtue of 
Bishop Flaget is lound in the cheerful readiness with which 
he resigned the whole administration of the diocese which 
he had created into the hands of his beloved son in Christ. 
After the consecration of Bishop Spalding, he at once with¬ 
drew into the solitude of his own heart, and dwelt hence¬ 
forth in undisturbed communion with God. “ Looking at 
his career with the eye of faith,” says his biographer, “ the 
portion of it which appears most luminous is that precisely 
which to the eye of nature would seem the most shrouded 
in gloom—the months which immediately preceded his final 
dissolution. The sun of his life sank calmly to rest; but, 
as it did so, it lighted up with golden tints the clouds which 
overhung the horizon, reflecting a mild but glorious flood of 
light over the world it left behind. His whole life may be 
said to have been one continual preparation for death. He 
directed all his actions to this great moment on which 
eternity depends. As the event approached, however, his 
thoughts turned to it more frequently, and his preparation 
became more immediate and earnest. To his friends, who 
often wished him better health and many more years of life, 
he invariably replied, ‘ Oh! no ; pray not for longer life, 
but for a holy and happy death.’ This was all he desired 
and asked for. His most fervent aspiration was to exchange 
this life of toil and trouble for one of never-ending bliss.” * 
He lived for a year and a half after the appointment of 
Bishop Spalding as his coadjutor, from whose hands he re¬ 
ceived the last sacraments on the nth of February, 1850, 
and on the evening of the same day, without a groan or 
* Life of Bishop Flaget, by Bishop Spalding, page 348. 


124 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


struggle, calmly fell asleep in the Lord, like an infant that 
gently sinks to rest on the bosom of its mother. 

Nine years before, the venerable Bishop David, the 
founder of the seminary and of the Sisters of Charity in 
Kentucky, had passed away from earth, in the eighty-first 
year of his life. Thus the church of Kentucky lost the two 
apostolic men to whom she owed more than to all others. 
They had run their course, they had kept the faith, and the 
just Judge had prepared for them the crown of glory. Not 
only were they great priests, but they were also noble and 
generous-hearted men, full of human sympathy and tender 
affection. They loved their priests and their people, and in 
turn received from them the tribute of unbounded filial 
devotion. To them the clergy of Kentucky are indebted 
for that spirit of obedience and self-sacrifice which has now 
become with them a tradition; and from them her people 
learned to associate the priestly character with all that is 
highest and worthiest of veneration. One of the greatest 
services that Bishop Spalding could have rendered to reli¬ 
gion in his native State, was to embalm the sacred memories 
of these saintly men, as he has done in his Sketches of Ken¬ 
tucky and his Life of Bishop Flaget. Though not yet a cen¬ 
tury old, the church which they founded has memories and 
examples of heroic virtue which can never be forgotten. 
Whilst these patriarchs presided over its destinies, Bishop 
David was its head, Bishop Flaget its heart. In his biogra¬ 
phical notice of Bishop David, whom he calls the Father of 
the Clergy of the West, Dr. Spalding says: “Sincerity and 
candor in all things were perhaps the most distinctive traits 
in his character. He was what he appeared to be. He had 
less of human respect than is usually found among men. He 
always told you plainly what he thought; and you might 
rely upon the sincerity of his opinion as much as upon the 
soundness of his judgment. He was also, as we have already 


State of the Diocese. 


125 


remarked, entirely consistent with his principles. If he 
taught prompt obedience in others, he always practised it 
himself, no matter how much pain it cost him ; and this 
even after he had been consecrated bishop. If he was some¬ 
what rigid towards others, he was much more stern with re¬ 
gard to himself, never seeking to impose upon others a burden 
which his own shoulders were not ready cheerfully to bear.” 

Bishop Spalding entered upon the administration of the 
diocese, which at that time embraced the whole State of 
Kentucky, under not unfavorable auspices. The Jesuits, 
who had taken charge of St. Mary’s College in 1832, had left 
the diocese in 1846, having been invited by the Bishop of 
New York to a more extensive field of labor. This was, at 
the time, the occasion of some inconvenience to the Bishop, 
who was compelled to withdraw priests from the missions in 
order to place them in charge of St. Mary’s. St. Joseph’s 
College, too, was under the control of secular priests, and 
the Bishop felt that he was unable to supply two such insti¬ 
tutions with professors from the clergy of his diocese ; and 
he therefore determined to engage some religious order to 
take charge of either the one or the other of these colleges. 
With this view, negotiations were entered into with the 
Jesuits of the vice-province of St. Louis, which were soon 
brought to a successful termination, and they re-entered the 
diocese and assumed the management of St. Joseph’s Col¬ 
lege in the same month in which Bishop Spalding was con¬ 
secrated. They at the same time took charge of the free 
school for boys in Louisville, which had been erected two 
years before, under the superintendence of Dr. Spalding, 
who was then the Vicar-General. 

A college was built on a lot adjoining the free school, and 
into these two institutions over three hundred boys were soon 
gathered, and placed under the judicious and enlightened 
training of the fathers of the Society of Jesus. 


126 


Life of Archbishop SpaIding . 


Late in December, three months after the consecration 
of Dr. Spalding, there arrived in Kentucky a colony of 
Trappists, from Melleray, in France. 

Members of this austere order who had been driven from 
their homes by the French Revolution, had come to America 
as early as 1804, and had established themselves at Pigeon 
Hill, near Conewago, in Pennsylvania. Having remained 
there little more than a year, they removed to Kentucky in 
•the fall of 1805, and erected a temporary convent near the 
church of Holy Cross. This, too, they abandoned in 1808, 
on account of the climate, which did not permit them to 
practise the austerities required by their rule. 

From Kentucky they went to Florissant, near St. Louis, 
which they left at the end of a year, and established them¬ 
selves on a farm in Illinois, lying on the Mississippi River, 
about six miles above St. Louis. But the malaria of this 
region made their new home even more unhealthy than 
those which they had abandoned, and, religious freedom 
having in the meantime been proclaimed in France, the 
General of the order, in 1813, recalled them to take posses¬ 
sion of the convents from which they had been driven. 

The colony which came to Kentucky in 1848 was the 
second attempt to establish the order in this country. The 
threatening aspect of the political situation in Europe had 
made them fearful that they should be again driven from 
France, and they therefore determined to seek, in the forests 
of the far West, an asylum where they would be permitted 
to practise the divine counsels of the Saviour in security 
and peace. 

They purchased of the Sisters of Loretto the convent 
and farm of Gethsemane, lying about fourteen miles south¬ 
east of Bardstown, and near the spot where their brethren 
had settled in 1805. This secon.d establishment, as we shall 
see, proved to be more fortunate than the first. 


State of the Diocese . 


127 


Bishop Spalding considered it a special privilege to have 
in his diocese these holy men, whose lives are so entirely con¬ 
secrated to the perfect observance of all that is most exalted 
in the religion of Christ. He looked upon them as living wit¬ 
nesses to the divine and supernatural power of Catholic faith; 
for the perennial presence of Christ, and the perpetual in¬ 
dwelling of the Holy Ghost in the church, are not perceived 
in this alone that she teaches a true doctrine, but the divine 
action is even more manifest in the supernatural lives of her 
children. Christ must be continually revealed to the world 
in the persons of those who love him. His purity, his hu¬ 
mility, his charity, his gentleness, his compassion for the 
sinful, his sympathy with the poor and the oppressed, his 
spirit of prayer and self-denial, his passion and death, must 
all be perpetuated in the lives of his saints with the same 
truth with which his divine countenance was impressed on 
the napkin of Veronica. 

His life was one of perfect chastity. Born of a virgin, he 
himself remained ever a virgin, and though he alone has 
consecrated marriage, and given to it the sanctifying and 
civilizing power which has been so fruitful of good results 
in Christian lands, still he taught, in language which cannot 
be misunderstood, that virginity—perfect purity of life—is 
higher, nearer to God, than the married state; and, there¬ 
fore, at least some of the children of the church must lead 
this life of consecrated chastity, that she may present to the 
world this feature in the life of her divine Founder. 

Christ was humble, being God—the Highest; he placed 
himself beneath the feet of the lowest; and, wishing to 
die for the sins of men, he chose that manner of death 
which was most ignominious. Indeed, humility was neces¬ 
sarily a fundamental feature in his character, because with¬ 
out humility there is no virtue, since without it there is 
no self-sacrifice. Pride is the form of every sin, as humil- 


128 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


ity is that of all virtue. God, says Lacordaire, is the 
humblest of beings. In the church, then, must be found 
a few, at least, who imitate Christ in his humble, lowly 
life, who, like him, descend from the high places, shun 
honor and renown and all worldly dignity, in order to hide 
their lives with him in God. Christ was obedient unto 
death, yea, unto the death of the cross; and they who seek 
to lead the ideal life which he has shown to the world, must 
crucify their wills. Christ, though he knew no sin, yet led 
a life of penance. He fasted, he prayed, he had not whereon 
to lay his head ; and in his church this life of penance must 
be perpetually renewed. Bishop Spalding looked upon 
these austere monks as witnesses to Christ in his church, 
and believed that their lives of prayer and self-abnegation 
would draw down innumerable blessings upon his diocese. 

Writing of them two or three years after they had estab¬ 
lished themselves at Gethsemane, he said: 

“ These, monks belong to the more strict observance of 
the Cistercian institute, one of the most austere religious 
orders in the church. They devote their lives to manual 
labor, to perpetual silence, to fasting and prayer. Seven 
hours of each day are spent in church, and as many are given 
to labor. They never taste flesh-meat, fish, eggs, or butter. 
Their penitential austerities seem incredible in this age of 
boasted progress and boundless self-indulgence. Their rigor¬ 
ous lives astonish the worldling, who can appreciate nothing 
which does not contribute to material progress and sensual 
enjoyment; whilst they are matter of admiration for all true 
Christians who, enlightened by faith, are able to estimate 
the awful malice of sin and the absolute necessity of pen¬ 
ance. He who, himself, led a poor and hard life, must look 
down with complacency on these pious recluses, who, to ex¬ 
piate their own and others’ sins, devote themselves, for his 
love, to this life of privation. Yet, in the midst of their 


State of the Diocese . 


129 


labors and austerities, these good monks are remarkably 
cheerful and happy. The peace of God, surpassing all un¬ 
derstanding, beams constantly from their countenances.”* 
Another great order of the church, which had been estab¬ 
lished in the diocese more than forty years before Bishop 
Spalding’s consecration, was now in a prosperous condition. 
The unrelenting persecution of the Catholics in England 
had forced the English Dominicans to take refuge on the 
Continent of Europe. They went to’Belgium, where they 
formed an English province of their order, and founded a 
college at Bornheim. But not even there could they find 
peace and security. In 1805, the French Revolution, which 
upturned everything on the Continent, sent its vandals to 
seize upon the college at Bornheim. Those members of 
the order who were not thrown into prison made their 
escape to England. Among these was a young American 
who, having been sent to Europe to complete his education, 
had gone to Bornheim, and, after finishing his studies, had 
taken the habit of St. Dominic. He had been ordained 
priest, and his genial nature and great virtue had already 
won for him the love and confidence of his brethren. This 
was Father Edward Fenwick, a native of Maryland, and a 
lineal descendant of the noble family of Fenwicks, of Fen¬ 
wick Tower, in Northumberland. The Dominicans, who 
had been driven from Belgium, petitioned the General of 
the order for permission to go to the United States, the 
native country of Father Fenwick. The request was granted, 
and Father Fenwick was named Superior. They accordingly 
sailed for the United States, and, on landing, presented them¬ 
selves to Bishop Carroll, the only bishop in the American 
Union at that time. By his advice, Father Fenwick, accom¬ 
panied by Fathers Wilson, Tuite, and Anger, all English- 


Life of Bishop Flaget, page 344. 


130 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


men, started for the wild woods of Kentucky in the spring 
of 1806, there to build up a home for their order. 

Father Fenwick had inherited from his parents quite a 
rich patrimony, and with this he purchased a large and fer¬ 
tile tract of land in Washington County, near Springfield, 
upon which he established the convent of St. Rose, and thus 
became the founder of the Dominican order in the United 
States. In 1809, Father Wilson opened, near the convent, 
a college for the education of Catholic youth, which he 
placed under the patronage of St. Thomas of Aquin. This 
was the first Catholic institution of learning in Kentucky, 
and one of the first in the United States. The college 
flourished for ten years, when the founding of a convent in 
Somerset, Ohio, in 1819, necessitated the withdrawal of so 
many of the fathers that its discontinuance was deemed 
advisable. Under the shadow of St. Rose, and the foster¬ 
ing care of Father Wilson and Father Miles, the future first 
Bishop of Nashville, a sisterhood of the Third Order of St. 
Dominic also grew up, and soon sent forth branches to Ohio 
and Tennessee. 


CHAPTER XI. 


STATE OF THE DIOCESE, CONTINUED—BISHOP SPALDING’S 
FIRST VISITATION—THE EARLY CATHOLICS OF KEN¬ 
TUCKY. 


HE Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters 
of Loretto had established convents and aca¬ 
demies in various parts of Kentucky, in which 
children of their own sex were brought up in 
the knowledge and practice of whatever moulds or adorns 
the character of the Christian woman. 

Bishop Flaget, during his last visit to France, was de¬ 
tained by sickness at Angers, where he was made ac¬ 
quainted with the Sisterhood of the Good Shepherd. With 
his practical knowledge of the wants of the church in this 
country, he at once perceived that the introduction of this 
order into the United States would prove highly serviceable 
to religion and morality. 

He therefore asked for a sufficient number of Sisters to 
establish the community in his own diocese. His petition 
was granted, and five Sisters, representing five different 
nationalities, were sent out to Louisville in the fall of 1842. 
This was the first establishment of the Sisters of the Good 
Shepherd in the United States. They met with a hearty 
welcome, and were placed in a house on Eighth Street, 
which had been bought for them by the Bishop ; and their 
convent was soon filled with unfortunate women, who, like 
Magdalen, tired of a life of sin, came to seek forgiveness 
and peace at the feet of Jesus. 

An ecclesiastical seminary had been established, as we 






132 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

have seen, at St. Thomas’, near Bardstown, in 1811, shortly 
after the arrival of Bishop Flaget in Kentucky. In 1818, 
the seminary was removed to Bardstown, where it remained 
till 1848, when, the Jesuits having taken charge of the 
college, the seminarians were sent for a time to St. Mary’s, 
and then brought back to St. Thomas’. 

• The Catholic population of the State, at the time of Dr. 
Spalding’s consecration, was about thirty thousand. In the 
diocese there were forty-three churches and ten chapels, 
served by forty priests. St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum for 
girls, founded fifteen years prior to this date, by Mother 
Catharine Spalding, was now the home of more than a 
hundred orphans. There was, however, no asylum for boys. 
The contrast between the well-organized church over which 
Bishop Spalding was now called to rule, and that body of 
scattered and wandering children of the old Catholic colony 
of St. Mary’s, whom Bishop Flaget found when, not forty 
years before, he first entered the dark forests of Kentucky— 
where the war-whoop of the Indian, passing westward, had 
not yet died out—is indeed most striking. Then there were 
not more than five thousand Catholics in the whole State. 
There were but six priests besides the Vicar-General, three 
of whom were Dominicans; and ten churches or chapels, 
built of roughly-hewn logs. With the exception of the 
order of St. Dominic, there was no religious society in the 
whole West. Bishop Flaget had been obliged to remain in 
Baltimore for six months after his consecration, for want of 
money to defray his travelling expenses to his new diocese, 
and upon his arrival he found, for the accommodation of 
himself and the ecclesiastics who had accompanied him, two 
miserable log-cabins, sixteen feet square, situated in the 
woods, near St. Stephen’s. For furniture they contained a 
bed, two tables, and six chairs, one of the missionaries 
being obliged to sleep in the garret. 


Bishop Spalding's First Visitation 


133 


But the hearty welcome with which his children received 
him, and the evidences which he beheld of their lively faith, 
more than compensated for the privations which he was 
made to suffer. 

When he arrived at St. Stephen’s, he found the faithful 
kneeling on the grass, singing canticles. The women were 
dressed in white, and, though it was four o’clock in the 
afternoon, many of them were still fasting, with the hope 
of being able to receive communion from the hands of the 
Bishop. Here, under the overshadowing foliage of the 
“ forest primeval,” an altar had been erected, before which 
the Bishop clothed himself in his pontifical robes, and then 
proceeded to the rude chapel, where he took formal pos¬ 
session of his diocese, according to the ceremonies prescribed 
in the Roman Pontifical. 

After his consecration, Bishop Spalding at once entered 
upon the visitation of the diocese. His first thought was 
given to the little children of his flock, for whom, in imita¬ 
tion of his divine Master, he felt the tenderest and sincerest 
love. He visited the schools and literary institutions under 
his jurisdiction, to manifest his great interest in the cause of 
Christian education, which he held to be of the most vital 
importance both to the progress of religion and the welfare 
of the country. He held that there could be no sound 
morality without religion, and, since the cultivation of the 
moral faculties enters of necessity into the proper concep¬ 
tion of education, that there in consequence could be no 
education in the true sense without religion. “ Education 
without religion,” said he, “ is the body without the soul, 
the building without the foundation, philosophy without 
fundamental principles. The contrary theory would banish 
God, with the hallowing influence of his divine government, 
from his own favorite domain—the human soul, leaving it 
during the most trying and dangerous period of life—that of 


134 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


youth—to be buffeted at will by the world, the flesh, and the 
devil. It ignores the very starting-point of all sound instruc¬ 
tion, the fountain-source of all true wisdom.” Having by 
his earnestness and zeal reanimated to renewed energy those 
to whom God had entrusted the education of the children 
of his diocese, he entered upon the visitation of the parishes 
of the State, some of which had not been blessed by the 
presence of a Catholic Bishop for several years. He had 
arranged to have missions preached in the various congre¬ 
gations which he was about to visit. 

Already in youth, he had learned from his old professor, 
Bishop David, who seems to have been the first to introduce 
into the church of this country a practice which has since 
been productive of the best results, to attach great impor¬ 
tance to these popular missions, and he had whilst a stu¬ 
dent in Rome, as we have already seen, studied with a view 
to fit himself for this work.* 

Taking with him two clergymen to assist in preaching the 
missions, and in preparing the children for first communion 
and confirmation, he journeyed on horseback from church to 
church. From the record which was kept of this his first 
episcopal visitation, I find that he generally took upon him¬ 
self the task of instructing the children who were preparing 
for their first communion, without, however, confining him¬ 
self to this work of love, for he also bore his share in preach¬ 
ing and in hearing confessions. At the close of the mission 
he generally lectured on the doctrines of the church, espe¬ 
cially those to which Protestants most frequently objected. 


* The Relation addressed by the Jesuits of Maryland, in 1638, to the General 
of the order in Rome, says : “ By the spiritual exercises we have formed the 
principal inhabitants to the practice of piety, and they have derived signal 
benefits from them.” This passage, however, it will be perceived, does not 
refer to popular missions, the introduction of which into this country Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding ascribes to Bishop David. 


Bishop Spaldings First Visitation . 


135 


His method in doing this was to state plainly, and to confirm 
by sound arguments, Catholic teachings, without assuming 
an aggressive attitude towards Protestantism, or giving to 
his discourses a polemical character. “ Kind persuasion,” he 
wrote, “ especially in this country, goes much further than 
hard logic. The appeal to the heart is more effectual than 
that to the head ; this I have learned by long experience. 

“ In argument, principles rather than men should be kept 
steadily in view. The spirit of Milner’s End of Contro¬ 
versy is admirable in this respect. Fortiter in re , suaviter 
in modo.” 

The visitation was made, as far as circumstances per¬ 
mitted, in strict accordance with the rules laid down in 
the Pontifical. He examined minutely into both the tem¬ 
poral and spiritual administration of each parish, and, after 
consulting with the pastor, made such regulations as the 
welfare of the faithful seemed to demand. Nothing es¬ 
caped his attention. The deeds of property belonging to 
the church were looked over, and, when any flaw was dis¬ 
covered, it was corrected. In various places, he found that 
the churches and cemeteries had never been blessed, and 
the defect was of course remedied. The necessity of 
establishing Catholic schools where they did not as yet 
exist was always insisted upon. In his instructions to the 
people, he never failed to exhort them to cultivate a tender 
devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the glorious Queen of Hea¬ 
ven and the special Patroness of the church in the United 
States, and to this end he recommended the immediate 
establishment among them of the Archconfraternity of the 
Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners. 
In places where there are now well-organized congregations, 
he found only a few isolated Catholic families. The good 
effect of the missions was specially manifest. Faith and 
piety revived, night and morning family prayer was intro^ 


136 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

duced, scandals ceased, persons who had remained away 
from the sacraments for years sought forgiveness in the 
tribunal of penance, and the entire Catholic population was 
renewed in spirit. Many Protestants, too, were received 
into the church—thirteen out of every hundred confirmed 
being converts. 

The pew system had not at that time been introduced 
into the church in Kentucky, at least outside of Louisville, 
and, according to a time-honored custom, the men sat on 
one side of the aisle, whilst the other was reserved for the 
women. This division of the sexes was also observed in 
the solemn procession which the Bishop always made to 
the graveyard, in order to say the prayers for the dead, as 
prescribed in the Roman Pontifical. The men and boys 
marched first, then came the women and girls, and the 
procession was closed by the clergy, followed by the Bishop. 
In places where there were a considerable number of Ca¬ 
tholics but no church, or one too small for the accommoda¬ 
tion of the people, he took measures to have a suitable 
house of worship built at once. Subscription-lists were 
opened, and, in several instances, sufficient money for the 
purpose was obtained on the spot. 

Many of the wealthier Catholics owned slaves, who at¬ 
tended the missions with their masters, kneeling alongside 
of them at the confessional and before the altar to receive 
holy communion. The simple, Christian life of the Catho¬ 
lics in Kentucky in those days, which are gone away never 
more to return, ought not to be forgotten. Not in Ireland 
or Tyrol or Brittany was there a more confiding or child¬ 
like faith in all that Christ teaches through the church, than 
amongst those descendants of the old Catholic colony. 
They were Kentuckians, with the frank and open manli¬ 
ness of character which distinguished their fellow-country¬ 
men ; they had that naive and boundless faith in republican 


Habits of the Early Catholics of Kentucky, 137 

institutions, combined with unspeakable contempt for what 
they considered the effete and corrupt governments of 
Europe, which belonged peculiarly to the American cha¬ 
racter before any great sorrow had tried our people, taking 
from them the freshness of hopes undeceived, the bright¬ 
ness of illusions whose unreality misfortune had not taught 
them. The flag that floated over them was in their eyes 
the emblem of a new era in the history of the race—the 
harbinger of a dawn compared with which the bright¬ 
ness of past civilization would be but night. Never have 
I known a feeling of more intense love of freedom, and 
devotion to all the principles which secure it, than that 
which was found amongst those Catholics of Kentucky. 
And yet the old, old church, which had existed in the 
beginning, whose pathway through the ages was marked 
by the wrecks of time and human passions, which had 
lived everywhere, in the north and in the south, in the 
furthest east and the remotest west, whose home had been 
in the palaces of kings, in the great cities of the world, and 
in the tents of the wandering and warlike barbarian—before 
whose beauty and majesty the princes of the earth had 
bowed down, and the rude savage, against whose strength 
had risen up time and again men of power and men of 
mind, only to fall broken like the mad waves of the ocean 
that dash against the rock-bound coast—this noble old 
church was their mother—the mother of their souls, to 
whom they turned with a love and devotion intensified by 
the memory of how their fathers had clung to her through 
long ages, until, when it had become a crime to love her 
in their own land, they sought the new world that God had 
opened to them, and there made for her a home, and built to 
her an altar, and with those same Catholic hands built an 
altar to freedom. The church has never had more submis¬ 
sive or obedient children than they were. 


138 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

In settling in Kentucky, they had frequently chosen the 
less fertile portions of the State because a church or chapel 
had been built there. Indeed, at one time, as I have else¬ 
where stated, many of the early Catholic colonists thought 
seriously of removing to Missouri, as it seemed impossi¬ 
ble to get missionaries to come to Kentucky. They were 
not deterred from the practice of their religion by trifles. 
Men and women would ride ten or fifteen miles over the 
roughest roads to hear Mass, and would remain fasting till 
twelve or one o’clock to be able to receive holy communion. 
Their reverence for the priestly character was unbounded. 
There were no schisms, no disputes with trustees, no con¬ 
tentions about church property, no rebellions of congrega¬ 
tions against their priests or bishop. Never did a father 
receive truer love in the bosom of his own family than that 
which was given to Bishop Flaget, yea, and to Bishop 
David and to Father Nerincks and to Father Badin, by the 
Catholic people of Kentucky. To others they might be for¬ 
eigners, men of different race and of another tongue, but to 
them they were fathers most beloved and most dear. The 
nationality of the priest was a matter of indifference; they 
scarcely thought of it; he was simply the minister of God. 
His actions were not misconstrued; he was not surrounded 
by men anxious to spy out and detect his faults. Even as 
a child thinks his father perfect, so those early Catholics 
thought their priests were saints; and some of them were, 
in truth. They were not a straitlaced race. They were 
hospitable, and loved enjoyment, and were never better 
pleased than when they saw the happy and the light-hearted 
around them. Frequently they would assemble, and whilst 
the young engaged in the simple country-dance, the old 
looked on or talked of other days. Father Badin, who, 
though the best of men, was not wholly free from certain 
rigid notions that remind one of the period when in some 


Habits of the Early Catholics of Kentucky . 139 


parts of France Jansenistic ideas entered largely into clerical 
training, delighted to be present on these occasions. When¬ 
ever he could learn that an entertainment was to be given, 
he made it a point to come in unexpectedly when the enjoy¬ 
ment was at its height. When he entered the room, all 
understood the meaning of his presence, and resigned them¬ 
selves with great composure to what seemed to them the 
inevitable. He had heard, he would say, of their social 
gathering, and, fearing lest they should forget their night 
prayers, had come to say them in their good company. All 
would then kneel down, and Father Badin would proceed to 
give out prayers for an hour or two, until his devotion was 
satisfied, and then he would dismiss the gathering, saying it 
was time they were all in bed. And yet such was their rev¬ 
erence for the priestly character that no one rebelled or even 
complained. Though there was no great choice of food, 
still the days of abstinence and fast were invariably kept in 
strict accordance with the requirements of the church. The 
pious custom of saying family prayers, night and morn¬ 
ing, existed very generally; and when the head of the house 
owned slaves, they too were required to be present at these 
devotions. All knelt together in the same room, and the 
father or the mother of the family gave out the prayer, and 
the others answered. 

Before or after these exercises the master would frequently 
enter into conversation with his slaves, enquiring concerning 
the health of this one or the occupations of another. The 
condition of the plantation, the prospect of the harvest, 
the proper management of the stock, were discussed in a 
familiar and unrestrained manner, the master sometimes 
giving directions and sometimes receiving advice. Between 
the Catholic masters and their slaves there most generally 
existed real sympathy and affection. 

Not to defend or regret a state of things, which happily 


140 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


has passed away for ever, do I mention these facts, but 
simply to show how the influence of true religion tends to 
refine and soften man even in those relations of life which 
seem fitted only to render him harsh and unfeeling. I doubt 
if the relations of master and servant, when so little con¬ 
trolled by law, or even by public opinion, have ever any¬ 
where been more paternal or just than among the Catholic 
slave-owners of Kentucky. 

The faith and earnestness of the early Catholics of our 
State are manifest, too, in the number of religious institu¬ 
tions which grew up among them, and which still exist. 
No body of native Catholics of equal numbers in this coun¬ 
try has ever, I think, produced so many vocations to the 
priesthood and to the religious life as were found in Ken¬ 
tucky from 1810 to 1830. The colleges, academies, and 
schools which they co-operated in founding, testify to their 
interest in the cause of education. Some of the first Prot¬ 
estant gentlemen of Kentucky and of Louisiana and Missis¬ 
sippi were educated in our colleges. 

The Catholics of Kentucky, and those of Maryland as 
well, have been accused, and not without justice, of want of 
generosity in the pecuniary support which they gave their 
priests. Without seeking in any way to extenuate this 
fault, it may not be amiss to examine into the causes to 
which it is attributable. For nearly a century and a half 
from the arrival of Lord Baltimore in 1634, down to the War 
of Independence, the faith was preserved among the Catho¬ 
lics of Maryland by the Jesuits, who were, with possibly a 
few exceptions, the only priests in the colony—noble and 
disinterested men, whose praise is still in the church, and 
whose memory will never be forgotten by the descendants 
of those to whom they secured the most priceless of all gifts. 
Land-grants had been made to the early Jesuit mission¬ 
aries of Maryland on the same terms as to the other colo- 


Habits of the Early Catholics of Kentucky. 141 

nists. The compact between Lord Baltimore and the colo¬ 
nists, entitled “ Conditions of plantation,” gave for a nominal 
consideration, to every settler who brought with him five 
able-bodied laborers, two thousand acres of land. The 
Indian kings also, whom the missionaries had converted, 
made gratuitous concessions of land to the church. 

Ample provision was thus made for the support of the 
fathers, who, leading the rugged lives of travelling mission¬ 
aries, needed but little. The circumstances in which the 
early colonists were placed did not call for orphan asylums, 
hospitals, and other institutions of benevolence, the need of 
which is the result of the overcrowding of the poorer and 
laboring classes in the great centres of commerce. The 
church edifices, too, were rude and simple structures, put 
up without great expense. 

Indeed, in 1704 a law was passed entitled “An act to 
prevent the increase of popery in the province,” which for¬ 
bade bishops and priests to say Mass, or exercise any other 
functions of their ministry. This law, which remained in 
force until the breaking out of the Revolution, rendered 
all further building of churches impracticable. The Jesuits, 
however, succeeded in retaining possession of their lands 
and servants, and consequently needed nothing for their 
own support. 

On the contrary, they were able to offer hospitality to 
their people, and in the lower counties of Maryland, Catho¬ 
lics who came fasting from a distance, in order to receive 
holy communion, frequently dined with the good fathers. 
So little did the Maryland Jesuits stand in need of the tem¬ 
poral goods of their people, that they were themselves able 
to give pecuniary assistance to the missions of Pennsylvania, 
as we learn from a letter of the Provincial in England, writ¬ 
ten in April, 1759. 

Thus, during the entire Colonial period, the Catholics 


142 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


of Maryland were placed in circumstances which rendered 
generosity towards the church, if not impossible, at least 
unnecessary, and often unwise; and, from long habit, they 
had come to look upon the church as self-sustaining, and 
the priest as a man who wanted nothing, at least from them. 
The history of the church everywhere proves that her 
people will not be generous, unless this quality be culti¬ 
vated in them. The Maryland Catholics who went to Ken¬ 
tucky at the close of the last century carried with them the 
result of habits which the growth of a hundred and fifty 
years had made a second nature. And, unfortunately, the 
circumstances in which they were placed in their new home 
were scarcely more favorable to the cultivation of a spirit 
of generosity than those in which their fathers had lived. 
For years they had, for the most part, to struggle with 
poverty, and all the difficulties which a new country opposes 
to those who seek to bring it into subjection. For nearly a 
quarter of a century, they had but three or four priests, 
whom they rarely saw, because their missions extended not 
only over Kentucky, but over Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 
When, at length, priests began to reside permanently 
among them, they generally chose as their home one or 
other of the convents that had grown up, where they lived 
without great expense. When, finally, the diocese was 
formed, and the more perfect organization of the parishes 
demanded that the priest should reside near the church and 
be supported by the people, it was but natural that they 
should be somewhat slow in conforming to a state of things 
so different from their whole past experience. The priests 
themselves did not at first seem to comprehend the situa¬ 
tion, or to understand exactly how to act. They insisted, 
from the pulpit, on the manifest duty of Catholics in this 
respect, but failed to adopt a plan which would divide the 
burden proportionately among all, and thus approve itself 


Habits of the Early Catholics of Kentucky . 143 


to the common sense of the people. The more generous 
Catholics responded to these appeals, whilst the greater 
number continued to act as though they thought it were 
simply absurd that a priest should want money. That 
which had been found necessary elsewhere, even in the 
large cities, and amongst the most generous people in the 
world, was finally adopted here; and the renting of pews 
has in all, except the poorest, congregations of Kentucky, 
secured to the priest a competent support. 


CHAPTER XII. 


RETREAT OF THE CLERGY—BUILDING OF THE CATHE¬ 
DRAL IN LOUISVILLE—DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE—THE 
FIRST PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE—DESIRE TO 
SECURE THE SERVICES OF A TEACHING BROTHERHOOD. 

I^HOP SPALDING, after returning from his first 
visitation of the diocese, assembled his priests at 
St. Thomas’, that they might enter into a spiri¬ 
tual retreat. He preached this retreat himself, 
and one of the most venerable clergymen of Kentucky has 
told me that it was in these days of prayer and meditation 
that he first perceived Bishop Spalding’s practical knowl¬ 
edge of human nature and power of governing men, though 
he had long known him intimately. 

Not to grow in intellectual vigor and force of character 
with increase of authority and higher position, is evidence 
of irremediable mediocrity; whereas, men who have real 
merit, as they are advanced in place develop qualities which 
had escaped the notice of even the observant. All who 
l^new Dr. Spalding agreed that he had talent, that he was 
laborious and zealous; but his gentle nature and simple 
manners had led some to imagine that he did not possess 
those sterner qualities required for the government of men 
and the vigorous prosecution of the work of a young and 
growing diocese. 

Indeed, to be a successful bishop in this country, one 
should be a many-sided man, fruitful in resources, and en- 
• dowed with exhaustless latent force. The very great power 
which the organization of the church here gives to the 








Retreat of the Clergy . 


145 


bishop, renders him, in a measure, responsible for the entire 
working of the diocese. In the old Catholic countries of 
Europe, a bishop has simply to keep the machinery of 
ecclesiastical government moving. Everything is determined 
and regulated by law, and little is left to the initiative of 
the man. But here he has to organize and create ; and, what 
is often more difficult, to harmonize the many conflicting 
elements which are at work within our young and grow¬ 
ing church. To him, every difficulty, whether theological, 
financial, or personal, is referred in the last instance ; and, 
in addition to this, the physical labor which he is forced to 
do is of itself exhausting. 

It is expected that he should be the best theologian, the 
most eloquent preacher, the most reliable financier, the 
safest counsellor both in spiritual and temporal matters, 
and at the same time the most slavish worker in the diocese. 
To demand of a man that he should know everything and 
be able to do everything better than anybody else, is rather 
exacting. But those who doubted Bishop Spalding’s ability 
to govern a diocese, were not sceptical after this retreat. 
He had placed himself at the head of his priests, and had 
shown them that he had a perfect understanding of what 
was to be done, and of the manner in which it should be 
done. 

He had won both their confidence and their affection. 
During the three last days of the retreat, public conferences 
were held, in which questions of practical importance, re¬ 
lating to the administration of the sacraments and other 
sacerdotal duties, were discusssed; and finally, the priests 
were assembled in informal synod, to give their advice on 
certain points which were to form the basis of the diocesan 
statutes. 

These meetings were most satisfactory to all, and the re¬ 
sult was harmony of action and mutual good understanding 


146 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


amongst the priests of the diocese, who felt assured and en¬ 
couraged from having learned that, he who was to direct 
them would himself be guided only by counsels of wisdom 
and prudence. 

Shortly after the close of this retreat, a most successful 
mission was given to the congregation of the cathedral in 
Louisville, which was at the time the only church in the 
city for the English-speaking Catholic population. The 
number of those who received communion was nine hun¬ 
dred and thirty-four. At no previous mission had there 
been half so many. There were also two German churches 
in the city: St. Boniface, which had been built several years 
before, and the Immaculate Conception, which Bishop 
Spalding had dedicated a short time after his consecration. 
In these two congregations there were about two thousand 
communicants, making the total number for the whole city 
only three thousand, which, however, is not so small when 
we consider that in 1825 there were but fifty. 

Ever solicitous for the children of his flock, Bishop Spal¬ 
ding felt the urgent want of an orphan asylum for boys. 
The fact of there being already a hundred orphans in the 
asylum founded by Mother Catharine for girls, was of itself 
evidence that many orphans of the other sex were left un¬ 
provided for. He therefore took steps to establish an asy¬ 
lum at St. Thomas’, which was opened in 1850 with ten 
orphans, the number steadily increasing until it reached one 
hundred and fifty. 

An association, entitled the St. Joseph’s Orphan Society, 
was organized about the same time, with a view to form an 
asylum for the children of German parents, though in the 
•original constitution it was stipulated that one-third of 
the inmates might be of Irish or American parentage. A 
building, known as the Old Seminary, adjoining the church 
of the Immaculate Conception, was bought, and the St. 


Building of the Cathedral in Louisville. 147 


Joseph’s and the St. Thomas’s Orphan Asylums opened the 
same year, and have both been the means of preserving the 
faith and virtue of hundreds of helpless children. 

The old cathedral in Louisville, which had originally been 
built for a parish church, when Bardstown was yet the see 
of the diocese, was not only too small for the rapidly grow¬ 
ing congregation, but was also unfitted to the right perfor¬ 
mance of the solemn and imposing functions of the episcopal 
ceremonial. Bishop Spalding, therefore, resolved'to begin 
as soon as possible the erection of a cathedral which would 
not be unworthy of the Catholics of Kentucky. The vote 
of the congregation was taken as to the site of the contem¬ 
plated edifice, and the majority were in favor of building it 
on the spot where the old church stood. The location was 
central, and, in the minds of the people, was hallowed by 
many religious associations. The lot, too, was large, with a 
greater depth than any other that could have been found in an 
eligible portion of the city. This having been agreed upon, 
a meeting was held in the basement of the old church in the 
spring of 1849, f° r the purpose of raising funds to begin 
work. Bishop Spalding, who presided, opened the subscrip¬ 
tion with ten thousand dollars ; and the Catholics of the 
city, encouraged by his generous example, contributed 
liberally. He then called upon the principal Catholics 
throughout the diocese, who also responded with gener¬ 
osity to his appeal. The style of architecture chosen was 
the Gothic. The cathedral was to be two hundred and ten 
feet in length by about ninety in width, with a clere-story, 
supported by a row of graceful columns on each side of the 
main aisle, and surmounted by a tower whose beautiful 
spire should rise to a height of two hundred and eighty-five 
feet above the ground, lifting the cross of Christ above the 
whole city and surrounding country. The corner-stone was 
laid on the Feast of the Assumption, the 15th of August, 


I4S 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


1849, m ^ ie presence of an immense concourse of people. 
The venerable Bishop Flaget, who was too feeble to be 
able to assist in the ceremony, overlooked the ^cene from a 
balcony of his residence, and, at the close, invoked the 
blessing of heaven on the beginning of a work the comple¬ 
tion of which he was not destined to see. 

Under the special supervision and management of the 
Very Rev. B. J. Spalding, to whose good sense and sound 
judgment the Bishop in this, as in many other things, was 
greatly indebted, the work was pushed vigorously forward, 
and on the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, October 3, 
1852, the new cathedral was solemnly consecrated to the 
service and worship of God, in the presence of two arch¬ 
bishops, eight bishops, one mitred abbot, and over forty 
priests. The Archbishop of Cincinnati performed the cere¬ 
mony of the dedication, and Dr. McCloskey, the present 
Archbishop of New York, preached in the morning, and the 
Archbishop of St. Louis in the evening. 

On the morning after the dedication, the remains of Bishop 
Flaget were solemnly translated, and deposited in a crypt 
beneath the high altar of the cathedral. “ The relics of a 
saint,” said Bishop Spalding, “ reposing in the crypt of our 
cathedral, God will not fail to bless us.” 

The total cost of the cathedral—in the building of which 
the strictest economy, even in the minutest details of the 
work, was observed—was seventy-five thousand dollars. The 
debt was soon paid, with the exception of eight thousand 
dollars belonging to the seminary fund, which was invested 
in the cathedral, with the condition of the semi-annual pay¬ 
ment of the interest. 

The bell, which weighs 4,500 lbs., and which cost twelve 
hundred dollars, was the generous gift of Mgr. La Bastida, 
Archbishop of Mexico, who christened it La Purissima. 
In 1858, a clock, made by Blin, of Paris, was placed in the 


Building of the Cathedral in Louisville. 149 


tower, at a cost of two thousand dollars. The cathedral 
was put under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin 
and of St. Joseph, the patron of the diocese. “ By a coin¬ 
cidence not prearranged,” said Bishop Spalding, “ it hap¬ 
pened that the chief events connected with the building 
occurred on Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. The subscription 
was opened on the Feast of the Annunciation, the digging 
of the foundation was begun on the Feast of the Visitation, 
the corner-stone was laid on the Feast of the Assumption, 
and the dedication took place on the Feast of the Holy 
Rosary. Thus,” he added, “ the Holy and Immaculate 
Virgin, under whose auspices the cathedral was begun, 
watched over it to completion. May she continue to smile 
on it, and on all who will worship within its walls.” 

By a special rescript from Rome, the feast of the dedica¬ 
tion was transferred from the first Sunday of October to the 
fourth Sunday of September, to prevent it from clashing 
with the Feast of the Holy Rosary. 

In the meantime, the other congregations of the diocese 
were not neglected. Bishop Spalding, since his consecra¬ 
tion, had dedicated the Church of the Immaculate Concep¬ 
tion, in Louisville; that of St. Catharine, at New Haven, 
and the Church of the Holy Rosary, at Manton. New 
churches had been built in Paducah, Henderson, and Mays- 
ville; and in Frankfort, the capital of the State, a hand¬ 
some church, and house for priest’s residence, had been 
bought from the Presbyterians, and dedicated to divine 
worship. A community of Magdalens had been founded in 
connection with the convent of the Good Shepherd, in a 
house built for that purpose by the first person who took 
the habit in the new community—Sister Mary, of St. 
Augustine. In the winter of 1851-52, Bishop Spalding 
was engaged in writing the life of Bishop Flaget, which, as 
he says in the preface, was a labor of filial love, though not 


150 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

without its difficulties, especially for one so engrossed by a 
multiplicity of cares and duties seemingly incompatible with 
literary occupations. t 

“ If our early missionaries labored much,” he says, “ they 
wrote but little. Their time was too much occupied in the 
discharge of severe ministerial duties to allow them leisure 
for recording their proceedings. Hence our early religious 
history is involved in no little obscurity; and the enquirer 
who wishes to trace the origin and progress of our missions, 
has to contend with many difficulties. Among these, the 
principal is the paucity of well-ascertained facts and dates. 
Materials there are, indeed, here and there, in abundance ; 
but they are scattered, unconnected, often vague in their 
accounts, and, still more frequently, merely local, personal, 
or otherwise unimportant in their details.” * 

Archbishop Kenrick, to'whom he had communicated his 
intention of writing a biography of'Bishop Flaget, replied : 
“ I am glad to learn that you intend to write a life of your 
venerable predecessor. It is truly a reproach to us that we 
suffer the memory of persons and things so intimately con¬ 
nected with the history of the church, in this country, to lie 
buried in episcopal archives, without making any effort to 
give them publicity. I hope that your example will not be 
without its favorable influence on others.” In composing 
this life, it was necessary to examine three thousand letters, 
besides thirty-four volumes of a MS. journal kept by Bishop 
Flaget, which involves an amount of thankless labor not 
easily appreciated by those to whom a similar task has never 
been given to perform. The work is a valuable contribution 
to the early history of the church west of the Alleghany 
Mountains. The delicate task of writing the biography of 
one so recently dead, and whose life had been, so intimately 
connected with many persons still living, caused Bishop 

* Life of Bishop Flaget —Preface. 


Divisio7i of the Diocese. 


151 

Spalding to feel anxious lest he should give offence, and he 
consulted Archbishop Kenrick as to the rules which should 
guide him, in view of this difficulty. 

“ In the correspondence of Bishop Flaget,” he wrote, 
“especially with Bishop Dubourg, there are many interest¬ 
ing disclosures concerning the administration of dioceses,, 
the erection of new sees in the West, the nomination of 
suitable persons for them, and other things of like import.. 
I fear I shall make some blunders and commit not a few 
indiscretions; but I desire to embody as much information 
as possible on the early history of our Western dioceses. I 
wish I had a little of your Roman caution. Pray for me,, 
and give freely any advice you have to offer.’’ 

The Archbishop, however, declined to make any sug¬ 
gestions, and simply answered: “ I must leave you to your 
own prudence as to both the living and the dead.” 

Archbishop Eccleston, the fifth Archbishop of Baltimore, 
died in April, 1851, and in August of the same year Bishop 
Kenrick was translated from Philadelphia to fill the vacant see.. 
A few weeks later, he received letters directing him to hold 
a Plenary Council of the entire episcopate of the United 
States, and appointing him Apostolic Legate, with au¬ 
thority to preside over the assembly. Bishop Spalding felt 
that the increasing Catholic population of the extensive 
territory under his spiritual jurisdiction demanded a division 
of the diocese of Louisville; and he therefore wrote to 
Archbishop Kenrick on the subject, stating his reasons, 
which he desired to submit to the council. In his reply, the 
Archbishop, after giving his opinion in favor of the forma¬ 
tion of the new diocese, says: “The number of our sees 
is likely to reach forty by the action of the National 
Council; since New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, South¬ 
ern Illinois, Sault $ainte-Marie, and other places, are spoken 
of as ready for sees.” And a few days later he wrote: “ I 


152 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

beg of you to prepare your views as to the decrees to be 
formed in the council, since two or three prelates, well 
prepared, can expedite our proceedings. I think we should 
sit during two weeks, or at least until Ascension Thursday. 
I directed the old catechism, as revised by the Bishop of 
Buffalo, to be sent to you, that you may communicate to 
him your observations, and thus prepare for the adoption of 
a uniform catechism. Some Lazarists are preparing a new 
and much improved edition of our ceremonial. I have 
directed an extract from the exposition of ceremonies, pub¬ 
lished at Rome by Bishop England, to be prefixed, since he 
was charged by the first council to prepare such an explana¬ 
tion. I am also getting out a new edition of my work on 
baptism, and will be most thankful for your candid remarks 
and suggestions. Your trip South will, I trust, renew your 
health, and give you an opportunity of writing a saint’s 
life without distraction. I asked the Bishop of Boston to 
preach on the day of commemorating the deceased prelates, 
but have received no reply. If he should decline, I shall 
rely on you. The venerable Flaget should be the chief 
subject. You will not feel yourself slighted in getting only 
this contingent invitation, as I treat my dearest friends with 
freedom.” A week later he wrote again: “ The Bishop 
of Boston declines preaching the funeral, on the plea of 
being unacquainted with the merits of the deceased, espe¬ 
cially of the venerable Flaget, who ought to be the main 
subject of the panegyric. You cannot put in this plea ; so, 
waiving all excuse, please prepare for that grand occasion. 
Dr. Fitzpatrick desires to have two new sees erected—one at 
Portland, in Maine; the other at Burlington, Vermont. I 
agree with him, and think that Boston ought to be raised 
to the dignity of an archdiocese, of which he, however, has 
no idea. The same honor ought, in my opinion, to be 
awarded to Philadelphia, since both these cities have vast 


Division of the Diocese . 


153 


populations, and historical reminiscences connected with 
our government and independence.” 

In reply to this letter, Bishop Spalding wrote as follows: 

“ Louisville, February 9, 1852. 

“ Most Reverend and Dear Friend : 

“ As I intimated in my last, I accept, though with fear 
and trembling, your invitation to preach at the service for 
the deceased prelates. Three subjects for one discourse— 
and such subjects !—will, I fear, be above my strength ; but 
I shall try to do the best I can. The good Bishop of Bos¬ 
ton, for so bold a man against heretics, is remarkably diffi¬ 
dent. I, this day, write to Bishop Timon my observations 
on his catechism. As the subject is important, I have re¬ 
ceived on it the report of three divines, my brother being 
chairman. With several small changes, the catechism will, 
I think, meet a want which has been generally felt ; and 
nowhere so much as in the West, where persons come to¬ 
gether from the various Eastern dioceses, having been taught 
every variety of catechism. God grant that a common 
catechism may be adopted ! The want of uniform practice 
throughout the Union in regard to feasts, fasts, and other 
observances is also very embarrassing. Here, for instance, 
on the two sides of the Ohio River, we have two kinds of 
discipline, which is very awkward, as the people of Indiana 
are thrown into constant contact with my own diocesans. 
There should also, by all means, be a uniform discipline 
adopted for the Germans, who are migrating to the West 
with their different local practices.” 

At the recommendation of the fathers of the First Ple¬ 
nary Council of Baltimore, which met in May, 1852, Pope 
Pius IX. consented to create a new diocese in Kentucky, 
embracing all that part of the State lying east of the Ken- 


154 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


tucky River. The see was placed at Covington, and the 
Rev. George Carrell, of the Society of Jesus, was made its 
first Bishop. 

In one of the decrees (n. 90) of the First Plenary Council 
of Baltimore, the fathers use the following impressive lan¬ 
guage : “ We exhort the bishops, and, considering the most 
grievous evils which are accustomed to follow from the 
faulty education of youth, we beseech them through the 
bowels of the mercy of God, to see that schools be estab¬ 
lished in connection with all the churches of their dioceses ; 
and, if it be necessary and circumstances permit, to pro¬ 
vide from the income of the church to which the school is 
attached for the support of competent teachers.” Bishop 
Flaget had, in 1820, received letters from the Propaganda, 
in which he was urged to found Catholic schools, and, a 
little later, all the bishops of the United States were ex¬ 
horted by the Holy Father to have recourse to this as the 
only effectual means of preserving the faith of their people. 
The desire to comply more fully with these instructions than 
it had hitherto been possible to do in Kentucky, was one 
of the chief motives which induced Bishop Spalding to 
visit Europe in the fall of 1852. In his Life of Bishop 
Flaget } which had just been published, in referring to this 
subject, he had said: “This system of parochial schools, 
wherever it can be carried out, harmonizes well with the 
spirit and practice of the Catholic Church, and, if fully 
established, would be attended with immense advantages 
to morality and religion. Education without religion is a 
body without a soul—it develops and gives strength to the 
passions, while it withholds the only effectual influence 
which can guide and control them for good.” Archbishop 
Hughes had said, in 1850: “I think the time has almost 
come when it will be necessary to build the school-house 
first and the church afterwards.” 


Division of the Diocese. 


*55 


Schools for girls existed already very generally through¬ 
out the diocese, and the sisterhoods of Nazareth and Lo- 
retto were able to meet the demands which were made for 
teachers. But it was found extremely difficult to establish 
good elementary schools for boys. It was not easy to find 
competent lay teachers, and, when found, it was often im¬ 
possible to pay them the salaries which they demanded. 
In a letter to one of his brothers in the episcopate, Bishop 
Spalding said : “ Rem acu tetigisti : Your letter pictures the 
great want we all feel in this country—that of teachers 
for our children, especially the boys, who are going to ruin 
by hundreds and thousands. As the Holy Father so well 
says, the machinations of the enemies of Christ are now 
chiefly directed to misleading and corrupting youth ; and in 
these satanical attempts on innocence they succeed, alas! 
but too well. . . .” 

What was to be done to counteract this evil, the exist¬ 
ence of which no one could deny? The teaching orders of 
religious women had supplied, to a very great extent, at 
least, the remedy for the Catholic children of their own sex, 
and the question naturally presented itself, Could not bro¬ 
therhoods be established which would do for boys what the 
sisterhoods had done for girls ? This had been a favorite 
idea with Bishop Flaget from the time of his arrival in Ken¬ 
tucky. Father Nerincks, the founder of the Sisterhood of 
Loretto, had, in 1824, matured the plan for a teaching bro¬ 
therhood, which death prevented him from carrying into 
execution. Two years later, Bishop Flaget, with the assist¬ 
ance of the Rev. M. Derigaud, succeeded in bringing toge¬ 
ther a few religious men, who bound themselves by vows 
for three years, and who seemed destined to realize his 
anticipations of the good results to be expected from the 
permanent establishment of a brotherhood in the diocese. 
A beginning was made at St. Thomas’, and in the spring 


156 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

of 1827, the Brothers, under the direction of Father Deri- 
gaud, removed to a farm belonging to the church, in Casey 
County. They had built a house, and had just entered 
upon the life of a religious community, when Father Deri- 
gaud died, and the Bishop, being unable to find a suitable 
person to assume the direction of affairs, the brotherhood 
languished and, at the close of the three years for which 
they had taken vows, was dissolved. In 1847, two Brothers 
of St. Francis, from Ireland, took charge of the free school 
in Louisville, which had been recently built. They, how¬ 
ever, met with but little success, and did not remain more 
than a year. The school was then given in charge of the 
Jesuits, who had just re-entered the diocese. But, in the 
summer of 1852, they also, for some cause or other, wished 
to give it back into the hands of the Bishop. Difficulties 
of this kind, however, were by no means confined to Ken¬ 
tucky. Even in so wealthy a place as New York, with a 
large and influential Catholic population, the attempt to 
introduce the Christian Brothers failed at first, though a 
second effort was more successful. 

Another obstacle, which experience had already proven 
not to be imaginary, to the success of elementary schools 
conducted by brotherhoods, was the tendency on their part, 
not always without reasons which, to themselves at least, 
seemed sufficient, to devote their best talents and energy 
to select schools, to the inevitable detriment of such as 
were attended almost exclusively by the children of the 
poor. 

But to have failed once or twice in a good cause is 
only to have learned how to succeed in the future, and 
the obstacles which stand between us and the work God 
has given us to do, are intended to develop our Christian 
manhood. 

Bishop Spalding then determined to visit Europe, to try 


Division of the Diocese. 


157 


to procure teachers for the children whom Christ had com¬ 
mitted to his charge. He had another object, not less 
important, in view in undertaking this journey: he needed 
more priests, and hoped to find them in the Catholic coun¬ 
tries of the Old World. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


VISIT TO EUROPE — THE XAVERIAN BROTHERS — THE 
AMERICAN COLLEGE AT LOUVAIN. 

ISHOP SPALDING sailed from New York on 
the 20th of November, and landed in Havre on 
the 5th of December, 1852, just in time to assist 
at the solemn inauguration of the Empire, the 
splendor of whose rise has been surpassed only by the un¬ 
equalled ignominy in which it has fallen amid the general 
wreck and ruin of the nation. 

In Rouen, he was received by the Archbishop with a 
cordiality and kindness which, in France, were everywhere 
extended to him as the successor of the venerable Flaget. 
In his company, he visited the old Norman cathedral, where 
Richard Cceur de Lion is buried, and the church of St. 
Ouen, which is one of the finest specimens of Gothic archi¬ 
tecture in the world. He saw also the palace of the Duke 
of Bedford, where Joan of Arc was condemned to death, 
and the Palais de Justice, the old Parliament House of the 
Dukes of Normandy. In Paris, he called on M. Deluol, at 
St. Sulpice, who thought there was little hope of his being 
able to obtain priests, at least in that part of France. He 
met here Cardinal Gousset, whose works on theology have 
given him considerable reputation. He describes him, in 
the short jottings which he set down in a kind of journal, 
as “ a rough-looking man of middle age, with very black 
countenance.” From the Cardinal he received no encour¬ 
agement—he himself had need of an hundred and fifty more 
priests than he had in his diocese. The impression he re- 





Visit to Europe. 


159 


ceived concerning the state of religion in France was unfavor¬ 
able. He was particularly pained by the very general want 
of respect for the sanctity of Sunday. From a Jesuit, in 
Paris, he learned that not one-fourth of the women and not 
one-tenth of the men in that great city complied with the 
precepts of the church. He was delighted, however, to hear 
from the Abbe Gaume that Gallicanism was well-nigh ex¬ 
tinct, and that nearly all the French bishops were now in 
favor of the Roman rite, whereas five years before a con¬ 
siderable number of them had been opposed to it. 

He remained in Paris but a few days, and went thence to 
Amiens, where he saw the Abbe Gerbet, so well known 
from his having been associated, in editing the Avenir, with 
Lammenais, Lacordaire, and Montalembert, and whose beau¬ 
tiful works on the Sacrament of Penance and the Holy 
Eucharist have endeared him to all Catholic readers. He 
describes him as “a tall, elderly-looking man, with a stu¬ 
dent-like air.” He preached here in French in the convent 
of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Although he spoke 
French with a good deal of ease, he, of course, did not 
speak it with perfect accuracy; and I remember hearing 
him relate, as illustrative of French politeness, a ridiculous 
blunder which he made in one of his sermons during this 
visit. In speaking of the mingling of the good with the 
wicked, in the church, he intended to say that even one of 
the apostles was a traitor, but he used the French word 
traiteur , which means a saloon-keeper ; “ and yet,” he would 
add in telling this, “ so wonderful is French politeness, that 
in my whole audience I did not perceive even a smile.” 
Without making longer stay, for the present, in France, he 
crossed over into Belgium, with the hope that the country 
which had given Father Nerincks to Kentucky, would be 
willing to send other apostles to continue the noble work 
which he had begun. 


160 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

In Bruges, he found the Xaverian Brotherhood, which had 
but recently been established, with a special view to the 
wants of the church in the United States. The Brothers 
were praying for an opening in America, and the founder 
and superior had placed in bank the money necessary to 
defray the expenses of the voyage. 

After consulting with Mgr. Malou, the learned Bishop of 
Bruges, and formerly professor in the University of Lou¬ 
vain, Bishop Spalding entered into an agreement with these 
Brothers, by which they bound themselves to open schools 
in Louisville as soon as arrangements for their reception 
should be made. They came out in 1854, and began to 
teach in a building which the Bishop had put up in the 
lower part of the city, on the lot on which St. Patrick’s 
church now stands. Their-success, for several years, was 
but partial. The founder, who had accompanied the infant 
colony to Louisville, though a man of excellent intentions, 
did not seem to understand how to adapt his institute to 
the new circumstances in which he was here placed, and the 
work began really to prosper only after he had been super¬ 
seded as superior. Under the new government, the commu¬ 
nity grew in numbers, until the Brothers were able to take 
charge of all the parochial schools for boys, both English 
and German, in the city. 

Bishop Spalding gave them a handsome house on Fourth 
Street, in which they opened a novitiate. Thus he had the 
consolation of seeing the Xaverian Brotherhood firmly es¬ 
tablished in the diocese; and the thought that he had made 
permanent provision for the education of the Catholic boys 
of Louisville was to him most reassuring. He was also very 
anxious to have the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 
Louisville. In 1859, he offered to give them ten thousand 
dollars, to assist them in establishing themselves there. 


The Xaverian Brothers . 161 

They, however, declined to come, on the ground that their 
numbers did not justify them in opening new schools. 

In i860, Bishop Spalding succeeded in getting the Brothers 
of Christian Instruction, to whom he gave the care of the 
orphans at St. Thomas’. It was his wish to place them in 
Owensboro or Paducah, that they might establish there a 
novitiate, which would enable them, after a time, to take 
charge of the parochial schools in the towns and country 
congregations throughout the diocese. But, in the mean¬ 
while, the civil war broke out; his correspondence with the 
Provincial, who resided at Mobile, was interrupted, and be¬ 
fore any definite arrangement could be made he had been 
transferred to Baltimore. 

Bishop Spalding, during his stay in Belgium, visited the 
various dioceses, in order to have an opportunity of seeing 
the seminaries, and addressing the students in behalf of the 
American missions. He was everywhere warmly received 
by both bishops and priests. 

“ How kind and hospitable is Belgium! ” he wrote ; “ how 
full of faith and sincerity these excellent Catholics are ! ” 

“ Belgium has preserved,” wrote Montalembert just at 
this time, “ with greater fidelity than any other people, the 
manners and the institutions of the old Catholic world ; the 
Middle Ages had never there been disguised by the spirit of 
courtliness. Hence she has been the first called to apply 
the conditions and to reap the fruits of the Catholic action 
in the modern world. Her nationality, nobly reconquered, 
reposes upon a constitution which her Catholic children 
have had the glory of giving to her, and of defending with 
fidelity down to the present day. She has consecrated all 
the vows and all the conquests of Catholicism in modern 
times ; the absolute independence of the church; the free 
choice of the bishops by the Vicar of Christ; complete 
liberty in all matters relating to education and religious 


i 62 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


associations. Her territory has gradually become covered 
with monasteries, colleges, and pious foundations. She 
alone in Europe has witnessed the revival of one of those 
universities, such as they existed in the ages of faith, devo¬ 
ted exclusively to the defence of truth.” 

It was during this visit to Belgium that Bishop Spalding 
conceived the idea of establishing an American College at 
Louvain. He develops his plan in the following letter to 
Archbishop Ken rick, dated Mechlin, January 7, 1852 : 

“ I have visited several of the Belgian dioceses, and I have 
seen much in this truly Catholic country to console and 
edify me. I have every prospect of success in the principal 
object of my journey; and, should my anticipations be re¬ 
alized, I hope, with the divine blessing, to be able to place 
my diocese on a new footing. I dined to-day with Cardinal 
Sterckx, a most holy and learned prelate. Conversing with 
his eminence on the utility of establishing here a Missionary 
College, he entered warmly into the project, and promised 
to second it with all his influence, which is very great, apart 
from his high position. He suggested the following plan, of 
the success of which he entertains no doubt. I lay it before 
you for your opinion and advice : 

“ The college is to be for the education of young men for 
the American missions, and is to be established in connec¬ 
tion with the University of Louvain, which is in the arch¬ 
diocese of Mechlin. The students in the beginning will 
occupy a rented house, and will have the privilege of attend¬ 
ing the course of studies at the university free of charge. 
The discipline of the college will be under the direction of 
an American missionary, who will teach English, and exert 
himself to procure the necessary funds for keeping up the 
establishment, which, the Cardinal thinks, can be easily 
realized in Belgium ; and this is the opinion of all those 
clergymen with whom I have conversed on the subject. 


American College at Louvain . 163 

Students will not be wanting, for in this diocese particularly 
the number of candidates for the ministry far exceeds the 
demand for clergymen. 

“ Such are the outlines of the plan, which, if carried out, 
will be of great utility to our missions. The studies at Lou¬ 
vain are of a high order ; and, perhaps, some of our bishops 
may send students of talent to perfect their education in 
this renowned university. The ecclesiastical spirit here is 
admirable, and the simple piety of the people contrasts 
strongly with the comparative coldness of Catholics in Pro¬ 
testant countries. 

"A hundred young men educated at Louvain for the 
American missions ! Is not the thought enlivening ? And 
yet, it is very far from impossible ; and, if the Cardinal’s 
anticipations be well grounded, it may be done with little or 
no expense to the American prelates.” 

Archbishop Kenrick did not take a favorable view of this 
project, and the carrying out of Bishop Spalding’s plan was 
in consequence delayed. 

The scheme was not, however, allowed to drop out of 
thought, and five years after the date of this letter we find 
Bishop Spalding, with the co-operation of Bishop Lefevre, 
of Detroit, taking active steps towards establishing a college 
at Louvain; though the Archbishop of Baltimore was still 
unfavorable to the project. 

“ I cannot see,” wrote Bishop Spalding to Archbishop 
Kenrick, in February, 1857, “why Belgium should not have 
a missionary college, like Ireland, France, and Italy, or why 
we should not profit by the abundant missionary zeal of her 
clergy. Bishop O’Connor wrote to me from Philadelphia, 
on the 6th of December: ‘ The Archbishop of Baltimore 
had first declined having anything to do with the project 
(of the Belgian College) ; but he has given me a letter to 
the Cardinal of Mechlin, expressing strongly the interest he 


164 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


feels in it.’ I naturally inferred from this that vve should 
have the great benefit of your approval and influence in 
carrying out a plan which Providence seems to favor at this 
time, and which, I am confident, promises much good for 
the future. Belgians have been among the very best mis¬ 
sionaries we have had in Kentucky, as you know. I am 
sure the American College at Louvain will not in the least 
interfere with that contemplated in Rome; and, if I mistake 
not, the Rev. Mr. Kindekens informed me that the project 
would meet with great favor in Rome, he having spoken of 
it to persons high in station there.” 

On the 4th of February, 1857, Bishop Spalding and Bish¬ 
op Lefevre addressed the following circular to the Arch¬ 
bishops and Bishops of the United States: 

“ Most Reverend and Dear Sir : 

“We take the liberty to forward to you herewith a pro¬ 
spectus of the American College to be established in Bel¬ 
gium in connection with the University at Louvain. As 
Providence seems at present to favor the founding of this 
college, in which many eminent and pious persons in Bel¬ 
gium take so lively an interest, we have ventured to move 
in the matter, after having consulted with some of our 
brethren—feeling that unless some one took the initiative, 
no commencement would probably be made. The principles 
embodied in the prospectus are, in our opinion, those which 
are best calculated to give the college a solid beginning, and 
to put it in proper working order, though time and experi¬ 
ence may induce several more or less important modifica¬ 
tions in the plan now proposed. 

“We take the liberty to request that if you should ap¬ 
prove the general objects and regulations of the college, and 
desire to become one of its patrons, you should have the 
kindness to signify the same to the Bishop of Detroit, at as 


American College at Louvain. 165 

early a day as possible, as the Rector proposes to leave for 
Europe early in March, and it will be highly important to 
his success that he should have the sanction of as many 
American prelates as possible. Should you feel inclined to 
contribute towards the foundation of the college, you will 
please to specify the amount, that the Rector may be able 
to calculate his resources. The eighth article of the pro¬ 
spectus will indicate the benefits arising to contributors. 
We also beg to mention, as an evidence of our own confi¬ 
dence in the advantages likely to result from the proposed 
college, that we have each agreed to contribute one thou¬ 
sand dollars towards its establishment. Should you desire 
to adopt any students according to the ninth article, you 
will please instruct the Rector accordingly. 

“ With great respect, we remain your faithful brothers in 
Christ, 

Martin J. Spalding, 

Bishop of Louisville. 

Peter Paul Lefevre, 

Bishop Zel. Coadj. Adm., Detroit. 

Detroit, February 4, 1857. 

This circular did not induce even one Archbishop or 
Bishop to give the sanction of his name to the new un¬ 
dertaking. This, however, did not discourage the two 
Bishops who had signed it. The Very Rev. Peter Kin- 
dekens had just returned from Belgium with the news that 
Count Felix de Merode had promised to give sixty thou¬ 
sand francs towards founding the new college. The Cardi¬ 
nal of Mechlin and one or two other Belgian prelates had 
renewed their assurance of sympathy and aid, as soon as 
they should learn that at least some of the Bishops of the 
United States had put their hand to the work in earnest. 
Mgr. De Ram the Rector of the University of Louvain, 


166 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


had generously offered to permit the students of the Amer¬ 
ican College to follow the university courses of philosophy 
and theology free of charge. 

Under these circumstances, Bishop Spalding resolved to 
take immediate steps towards establishing the college at 
Louvain. Bishop Lefevre and himself advanced a thousand 
dollars each, and empowered Father Kindekens to proceed 
to Belgium and open a house for the reception of students, 
even though he should find it necessary to begin the work 
in a rented building. 

In the prospectus which accompanied the circular to the 
American hierarchy, Bishop Spalding argued in favor of the 
project, and sought to meet the objections of those who dis¬ 
approved of it. 

“ The advantages of such a college,” he wrote, “ are mani¬ 
fest. Belgium is eminently a Catholic country. The true 
ecclesiastical spirit is found, in a high degree of perfection, 
in the seminaries, which there abound. The climate is 
healthy and similar to our own, while the people are robust 
in body and mind, industrious and practical in character. 
These qualities render them most efficient missionaries, and 
suit them particularly to the habits and wants of our people, 
as experience has proved. Another important advantage of 
the proposed college is the facility which it will afford for 
obtaining suitable German missionaries, thereby supplying 
a great want. The celebrity of the Louvain University, 
lying convenient to the provinces of lower Germany, will 
draw many German candidates for the holy ministry to the 
American College to be established in connection with that 
famous institution, where proper care will be taken to train 
them for our missions. The founding of this college will 
not, it is believed, interfere with the establishment of a col¬ 
lege or of colleges for the higher ecclesiastical studies in the 
United States, or with the proposed American College at 


American College at Louvain . 


167 


Rome. Many of the young men educated at Louvain may 
hereafter be very usefully employed as professors in our 
seminaries, and thus they will rather aid than impede a 
taste for such studies in our own country, where it is highly 
important that the standard of ecclesiastical education should 
be elevated as speedily as possible. Should the Roman Col¬ 
lege be established in accordance with the recommendation 
of the Holy Father, and the consequent wish of the Ameri¬ 
can prelates, there would be no clashing between it and the 
college at Louvain, for the obvious reason that the former 
would be chiefly for young men sent from America ; whereas 
the latter, at least in the beginning, would be filled princi¬ 
pally with young men from Belgium, Holland, France, and 
Germany.” 

When Father Kindekens reached Belgium, he learned 
that Count de Merode was dead, and that all hope of 
getting the promised sixty thousand francs had died with 
him. He was consequently left with nothing but the two> 
thousand dollars given by Bishop Spalding and Bishop 
Lefevre. Having taken counsel of the friends of the enter¬ 
prise in Belgium, he bought the College d’Aulne, founded 
in 1629; and there, in the summer of 1857, h e opened the 
American College of the Immaculate Conception. Before 
the end of the year he had eight students in the new insti¬ 
tution, and in April, 1858, he sent two priests to Louisville- 
and two to Detroit. In i860, Father De Neve succeeded 
Father Kindekens as rector of the college, and to his zeal 
and energy much of the good which has been done must be 
ascribed. In the course of time other American bishops- 
became patrons of the college; especially those who had no 
seminary of their own. In 1863, the number of students 
had risen to forty. The college has now, after an existence 
of sixteen years, sent one hundred and fifty-four missionaries 
to the United States, who have been educated at com- 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


168 


paratively little expense to the American bishops; so that 
Bishop Spalding’s anticipations have been already realized, 
and more even than he hoped for has been done. To form 
a correct estimate of the good which the American College 
of Louvain has accomplished, we must consider that a large 
number of its priests have been sent to those dioceses where 
the need was greatest and where it was almost impossible to 
get missionaries. 

As Archbishop of Baltimore, Dr. Spalding continued to 
do everything in his power to promote the interests of the 
American College of Louvain. In a letter to Father De 
Neve, written in 1868, he says: 

“ I was delighted to learn from your very welcome favor 
of the 6th inst. how well you were received in Rome, and 
with what courage you are animated to continue the 
noble work to which you have devoted your life. Cardinal 
Barnabo had been fully posted with reference to the nature 
and object of our missionary college, and I am not at all 
•surprised that he received you so well. You will find the 
college honorably mentioned in our Plenary Council.” 

From Belgium, Bishop Spalding went to Holland, where 
he met with a cordial welcome from Archbishop Zwysen, 
who generously offered to allow any of his priests, who 
were willing to devote themselves to the missions, to 
accompany him to America; and he also proposed to send 
him a colony of Sisters, capable of instructing the deaf and 
dumb. In Holland, which had so long persecuted the 
•soldiers of the cross in two hemispheres, and where, but a 
few years ago, the existence of Catholics was scarcely sus¬ 
pected by the world, Bishop Spalding, to his surprise, found 
a church whose members constituted more than a third of 
the entire population of the kingdom, and who, by the 
gravity of their manners and the fervor of their faith, had 
already secured for it an honorable position. 


American College at Louvain . 169 

Six young Hollanders, either priests or ready for ordina¬ 
tion, were received by Bishop Spalding for the diocese of 
Louisville, and, on his return, accompanied him to Ken¬ 
tucky. He now turned his steps towards Rome, stopping 
on his way, in Lyons, where he made the acquaintance of 
the members of the Council of the Propagation of the 
Faith. In an address, which he was invited to deliver 
before them, he stated the wants of his diocese so elo¬ 
quently that a handsome sum was at once placed at his 
disposal, for the benefit of the church in Kentucky, whose 
first bishop had done probably more than any other man to 
increase and extend the workings and usefulness of this 
noble association. 

Whilst here, he visited the famous shrine of Notre Dame 
de Fourvieres, which overlooks the city of Lyons. 

His note-book, which never reaches the dignity of a 
journal, and which was not intended for any eye but his 
own, bears testimony, on almost every page, to his spirit of 
faith and prayer, as well as to his special devotion to the 
Blessed Virgin. It also testifies to his deep interest in 
the church, its progress and organization, in all the places 
which he visits. His affections are not confined to his own 
little diocese, or even to his own country, but they are as 
catholic as the church itself. Wherever he meets with 
Catholics, he feels that he is in the house, not merely of 
friends, but of brothers, to whom he is bound by the higher 
kinship of soul, which rises superior to differences of cus¬ 
tom and nationality. Everywhere he finds that Catholic 
priests are kind-hearted f , hospitable, and sympathetic; 
which, I imagine, is the experience of all who have been 
thrown intimately with them. If they have been hated by 
those who knew them not, they have also been loved more 
than any other class of men on earth by the people, the 
poor and the suffering, in whose hearts the tenderness and 


170 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

devotion of the Catholic priesthood have built up the 
universal republic of souls which stands for ever, amid the 
ruins of kingdoms and empires, and the wrecks of time. 

I11 Holland, he is delighted to learn that Pius IX. has 
determined to re-establish the hierarchy, and that the noble- 
hearted Zwysen is to be raised to the rank of an archbishop. 
He visits the seminaries, colleges, and schools ; the hospitals, 
asylums, and other benevolent institutions ; assists at the 
services on Sunday in parish churches, and his soul expands 
in this atmosphere of faith and religion. Like a loving 
son, he is joyous and glad at beholding the power of his 
mother over the hearts of her children. And when he sees 
her ministering to every form of human suffering, his love 
for her and his love for them that suffer unite to make him 
doubly happy. He enquires into everything, the number 
of priests and seminarians, of convents and colleges, of 
members of religious communities, of parishes and schools; 
he seeks to become acquainted with the manner in which 
the various ecclesiastical institutions are conducted and 
mafntained ; with the practical means adopted for the re¬ 
lief of the poor and the reformation of the wicked; with 
the relations of the church to the state. In Belgium, he 
takes the deepest interest in the contest which was then 
going on between the Catholic and infidel parties. He 
applauds the bishops and priests for the firm and bold 
stand which they had taken in the face of an infidel minis¬ 
try, which was endeavoring to poison the fountains of reli¬ 
gious truth, by introducing a false and pernicious system 
of education. He glories in the grand old University of 
Louvain, in which religion and science had made alliance, 
in order to do battle against the degrading and fatalistic 
materialism with which the Universities of Li&ge and Ghent 
were seeking to infect the minds of the educated classes. 
He makes the acquaintance of the professors—admirable 


American College at Louvain. 171 

men, whose learning and wisdom were surpassed only by 
the beauty of their lives and the humility of their faith; 
and he beholds in them the living refutation of the ignorant 
slander that there is antagonism between the spirit of the 
church and the highest scientific culture. He contrasts the 
happy, contented faces of those Catholic populations with 
the eager, anxious look of our own people, who seem as 
though they were pursued by some demon which will not 
allow them to look beyond the grave or to hope for rest 
before. The sight of their robust and healthy women sug¬ 
gests, to him the thought that the vitality of European 
nations is, in great measure, due to them, whilst we in 
America are doing all in our power to make woman a mere 
nerve-organism, and, consequently, to unfit her to become 
a mother. 

At Avignon, he visited the palace of the popes, rendered 
so famous by the great schism of the West. He found 
that it had been converted into a barracks. The French 
Revolution has written its history all over the Continent of 
Europe in ineffaceable lines of eternal ignominy; and that 
same spirit which led to the destruction or profanation of 
the- grandest monuments of religion and art, still survives 
in the infidel revolutionary party which sought to burn 
Paris, and which would gloat with demoniac joy over the 
smouldering ruins of St. Peter’s. 

In Marseilles, he visited the benevolent institutions of 
Canon Tissiaux, the founder of the Congregation of the 
Priests -.of St. Peter, whose special mission is to take care 
of orphans and to minister to the spiritual wants of pri¬ 
soners. The good Canon had also established reformato¬ 
ries for both boys and girls, in which they were taught the 
various trades. The introduction of the trades into the 
education of these children struck the Bishop as an excel¬ 
lent idea, which might be applied with the best results in 


172 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding, 


the United States, and which, as we shall hereafter see, he 
himself was destined to put to the practical test. In Rome, 
he found the memory of the atrocious crimes committed in 
the name of liberty, during the short-lived Republic of the 
Triumvirs, still fresh in the minds of all, especially the 
murders of priests and monks by Zambianchi, with the 
connivance of Mazzini; and the butchery of two peasants, 
on the Ponte St. Angelo, whom the mob of brutal savages 
had mistaken for Jesuits in disguise. Rome, at that time 
as now, was filled with the thieves and cutthroats of Eu¬ 
rope, who seem to be drawn to the robber-government of 
Italian infidels like vultures to the carcass. 

Bishop Spalding now for the first time saw Pius IX., who 
twice received him in private audience, treating him with 
the paternal and gentle affection which never fails to win 
the hearts of those who are brought within the magic circle 
in which he moves. 

Bishop Spalding presented various papers to the Holy 
Father for signature, all of which he signed only after 
having read them with such attention as to detect in one 
a verbal error, which he corrected. The Pope spoke with 
great veneration of Bishop Flaget, and referred in a special 
manner to the services which he had rendered to the So¬ 
ciety for the Propagation of the Faith. In a second audi¬ 
ence, he presented a report of his administration of the 
diocese of Louisville. 

In the Propaganda, Bishop Spalding was received with 
open arms, as a son who, having been sent forth to battle, 
had not dishonored his alma mater. He said Mass and 
preached for the students; dined with them; and, in the 
company of the Americans, visited the sacred places where, 
as a young man in the full fervor of youthful devotion and 
enthusiasm, he had so often prayed. 

He remained in Rome but two weeks. Passing through 


American College at Louvain . 


173 


the principal cities and exquisite scenery of central and 
northern Italy, he crossed Mont Cenis, making part of the 
journey in sleighs, and, after stopping a few days in Lyons 
and Clermont to make arrangements for the voyage home 
with some ecclesiastics who were to accompany him, he 
arrived in Paris on the 2d of April, 1853. On the 25th of 
the same month, the ten ecclesiastics, whom he had gathered 
in France, Belgium, and Holland for the diocese of Louis¬ 
ville, sailed from Havre, whilst Bishop Spalding went to 
Ireland, with the hope of inducing others to follow their 
example. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


RELIGION AND NATIONALISM—THE KNOW-NOTHING CON¬ 
SPIRACY—“ BLOODY MONDAY.” 

HE enemies of the church, in this country, had 
sought to produce the impression that Catholi¬ 
cism was a foreign religion, and that to be Catho¬ 
lic was to be un-American. Hence the effort was 
made throughout the land to excite war against the Catho¬ 
lics, as the enemies of American institutions. The danger 
was, lest Catholics should yield to this pressure, and gradu¬ 
ally isolate themselves and lose all sympathy both with the 
institutions and the people of this country, considering the 
American state the enemy of their religion. The result 
would have been deplorable, as regards the interests both 
of the church and the nation. 

It was not the American people who were seeking to 
make war on the church, but merely a party of religious 
fanatics and unprincipled demagogues, who as little repre¬ 
sented the American people as did the mobs whom they 
incited to bloodshed and incendiarism. Their whole con¬ 
duct was un-American, opposed to all the principles and 
traditions of our free institutions. To have patiently 
yielded to these dark conspirators, and to have allowed 
ourselves to be thrust into the position of a spurious and 
foreign element, would have been worse than cowardice— 
it would have been madness. This country was not a 
Protestant country more than a Catholic country, and the 
Catholic citizen was no more a foreigner than the Protestant 
citizen. The whole future of the church here, humanly 
speaking, depended on the recognition of this fact; and 






Religion and Nationalism . 175 

those men who, in spite of calumny and violence, remained 
firm in their attachment to the great principles of American 
liberty, protesting that they would never admit that the 
church was an alien body here, or that they, for being 
Catholics, were the less true and loyal American citizens, 
rendered a service, both to the country and to religion, for 
which we cannot be too grateful. Among the foremost of 
these was Dr. Spalding, whether we consider the influence 
of his example or that of his writings. “ Born and reared 
up in this free country/’ he says, in the introductory address 
to the Miscellanea , written in 1855, “we have doated from 
infancy on the glorious principles embodied in our noble 
Declaration of Independence, and in those cognate ones set 
forth in our matchless Constitution. They have been the 
dream of our youth and the idol of our maturer years. And 
we have had abundant opportunities to know that those 
whom choice, and not the accident of birth, has made citi¬ 
zens of our happy country, entertain, without an exception 
known to us, a fond predilection for American principles 
scarcely surpassed in intensity by our own.” “Who,” he 
asks, in answer to the charge that Catholics cannot, con¬ 
sistently with their principles, be good citizens of a repub¬ 
lican government—“who originated all the free principles 
that lie at the basis of our own noble Constitution? Who 
gave us trial by jury, habeas corpus , stationary courts, and 
the principle for which we fought and conquered in our 
Revolutionary struggle with Protestant England — that 
taxes are not to be levied without the free consent of those 
who pay them ? Are we indebted to Protestantism for even 
one of these cardinal elements of free government? No; 
not for one. They all date back to the good old Catholic 
times in the Middle Ages—some three hundred years before 
the dawn of the Reformation.” 

And again : “ We are indebted to Catholics for all the 


176 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


republics which ever existed in Christian times down to the 
year 1776—for those of Switzerland, Venice, Genoa, An¬ 
dorra, San Marino, and a host of free commonwealths which 
sprang up in the ‘ dark * ages. Some of these republics 
lingered until a comparatively recent date ; some still exist, 
proud monuments and unanswerable evidences of Catholic 
devotion to freedom.” 

To those who feared a conflict of races and danger to the 
country from the increasing influx of emigrants, he said : 
“ The surest safeguard against danger of this kind, if it really 
existed, was to be found in the Catholic Church, the ten¬ 
dency of whose institutions is to break down all barriers of 
separate nationalities, and to bring about a brotherhood of 
citizens in which the love of the common country would 
absorb every lesser feeling. 

“ Catholicity is of no nation, of no language, of no peo¬ 
ple ; she knows no geographical bounds ; she breaks down 
all the walls of separation between race and race, and she 
looks alike upon every people and tribe and caste. Her 
views are as large as the territory which she inhabits, and 
this is as wide as the world. Jew and Gentile, Greek and 
Barbarian, Irish, German, French, English, and American 
are all alike to her. In this country, to which people of so 
many nations have flocked for shelter against the evils which 
they endured at home, we have a striking illustration of this 
truly catholic spirit of the church. Germans, Irish, French, 
Italians, Spaniards, Poles, Hungarians, Hollanders, Belgians, 
English, Scotch, and Welsh, differing in language, in na¬ 
tional customs, in prejudice—in everything human—are here 
brought together in the same church, professing the same 
faith, and worshipping like brothers at the same altars. The 
evident tendency of this principle is to level all sectional 
feelings and local prejudices by enlarging the views of man¬ 
kind, and thus to bring about harmony in society, based 


Religion and Nationalism . 


177 


upon mutual forbearance and charity. And in fact, so far as 
the influence of the church has been brought to bear upon 
the anomalous condition of society in America, it has been 
exercised for securing the desirable result of causing all its 
heterogeneous elements to merge into the one varied yet 
homogeneous nationality. Protestantism isolates and di¬ 
vides ; Catholicity brings together and unites. Such have 
been the results of the two systems in times past; such, 
from their very nature, must be their influence on society at 
all times and in all places.” * 

Dr. Spalding was not content with denying that the church 
is incompatible with republicanism, or hostile to true liberty, 
but he maintained that the spirit of Catholicity is in perfect 
harmony with the wants and institutions of our country, 
whereas between them and Protestantism there is an innate 
opposition. He looked upon this country as the hope of 
the future, both in religion and in civil government, firmly 
persuaded, however, that in the Catholic Church alone could 
be found those principles of union and strength which would 
secure permanency to its institutions; and, in his untiring 
efforts to build up and firmly establish the church here, he 
was sustained by the generous conviction that he was labor¬ 
ing, not only for the highest interests of religion, but also for 
the true welfare of his country. This great nation, he was 
persuaded, needed a great religion, and consequently could 
not long remain satisfied with the divided and fragmentary 
Christianity of Protestantism. No one, however, could be 
more opposed than he to the introduction of nationalism 
into religion. The church, as he said, is of no nation, and 
this is one of the marks of her divinity ; and hence, he not 
only applauded the sublime spectacle of the union of all 
nationalities in the one faith here, but deprecated, as fraught 
with the most serious danger, any attempt to introduce 
* Miscellanea —Introductory Address, p. 57. 


178 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

among the Catholics of this country the question of nation¬ 
ality. To urge Catholics as citizens to identify themselves 
with the American nation, and to take a living interest in 
the affairs of the country, was one thing; but it would have 
been something quite different to hold that it was their duty 
to seek to build up here a national church differing in spirit, 
institutions, or traditions from the church universal. Dr. 
Spalding was an American and a Catholic; but, as his faith 
did not interfere with his devotion to his country, so neither 
did that devotion in any way modify his religious convic¬ 
tions. In fact, it was impossible for him to look upon the 
church from a merely national stand-point, or to seek to 
compress Catholic truth into the narrow mould of national¬ 
ism. No one knew better than he the evil influences of 
exaggerated nationalism when brought to bear upon the 
church. 

To make religion national would have been, in his eyes, 
a return to the pagan theory, in which the church was 
absorbed in the state. Before Christ, religion existed only 
as a state institution, and to have any other than the na¬ 
tional religion was not only heresy but treason. This nar¬ 
rowness was not hurtful to religion alone, but also greatly 
helped to produce that hatred amongst nations which is 
characteristic of all antiquity. The pagan state could have 
no conception of a Catholic and unnational religion—a re¬ 
ligion which, being the exclusive privilege of no people, is 
equally true and salutary for all nations and for all ages. 
Even the Jewish religion was national. Jehovah was the 
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob—of the Jew, and 
not of the Gentile. Hence, even among the Jews we do 
not find the idea of a catholic religion. Their view was 
that men should adore in Jerusalem, and they knew not 
that the day would come when the true worshippers of God 
would adore him in spirit and in truth, without distinction 


Religion and Nationalism. 


179 


of place or people. Unfortunately, the tendency to nation¬ 
alize religion did not die with the birth of Christ. 

It was precisely this spirit which first led to the persecu¬ 
tion of the Christians. The Christian church, in Rome, did 
not claim to be a national, but a catholic religion, and the 
Christians were held to be enemies of the state, because 
their religion was not that of the state. They could not be 
good citizens of the Empire, it was argued, because they did 
not profess the religion of the Empire, and refused to sacri¬ 
fice to the divinity of Caesar. Hence they were butchered, 
quartered, thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre, 
under the approving eyes of the worshippers of the state 
gods. 

This same cause lies at the root of most of the heresies 
and schisms which have disturbed the church. The heresies 
of Nestorius and Eutyches were national heresies, the genu¬ 
ine offspring of the Greek mind and spirit, as opposed to 
that of the universal church ; and the separation of the 
Greek Church from the Church Catholic was effected almost 
solely by national and political influences. The dogmatic 
differences supposed to have existed between the two 
churches were merely shallow pretexts. 

The Russian schism is attributable to the same cause. 
The great schism of the West in the fourteenth century 
was likewise produced by this exaggerated spirit of national¬ 
ism in religion. France desired to get possession of the 
Fapacy, to make the pope a French pope, and the Papacy a 
French institution ; and the result was a disturbance in the 
whole Catholic world, the evil effects of which have not even 
yet wholly disappeared. The politico-religious movement 
of the sixteenth century was, in principle and in fact, a 
reaction against the universal church in favor of the na¬ 
tional state-church theory. Lutheranism was Germanism, 
and when Protestantism went outside of Germany and the- 


180 Life of Archbishop Spalding, 

Teutonic race, it ceased to be Lutheranism. Anglicanism, 
as the name indicates, is based on the identification of the 
national and religious spirit. “ The Church of England,” 
says Macaulay, “ is an institution as purely local as the 
Court of Common Pleas.” It was created by the law, is 
upheld by the law, and may be abolished by the law. It 
owes its very existence to the morbid national sensitiveness 
of Englishmen. 

The persecution of the church in Germany, to-day, is but 
a renewal of the attempt to nationalize religion, and it has 
been made possible by the outburst of national feeling con¬ 
sequent upon the success of German arms. The church 
being universal, Dr. Spalding held that she is beyond and 
above all nationalities, and he therefore, as a Catholic, 
viewed man from a higher stand-point than that granted 
to those who look upon him merely as a citizen of the 
state. 

Multiplicity of languages and differences of race are not, 
as he considered them, primitive facts, but are consequent 
upon sin ; and therefore the church, which rehabilitates man 
as a child of God, should also enable him to approach to 
his normal condition as a citizen of the world, in which all 
national divisions and hatreds will be merged in the bro¬ 
therhood of the race, made a living fact by the fuller realiza¬ 
tion of the fatherhood of God and the motherhood of the 
one universal church. 

And probably not the least important mission of this 
•country, where all the races of Europe are thrown together 
in friendly contact, is to help on this great work. However 
this may be, we cannot but see a most hopeful sign for the 
future in the dying out of the spirit of exaggerated nation¬ 
alism, and the breaking down of the barriers which separate 
the peoples of the earth, which, among other good results, 
will have the effect to diminish the antagonism which has 


The Know-Nothing Conspiracy. 181 

always existed between a false nationalism and the catholic 
spirit of the church, thus rendering her progress more cer¬ 
tain, and less liable to be disturbed by heresy or schism. 

In this country, attempts have been made from time to 
time, as I have already stated, to place the national spirit in 
opposition to the church, but their miserable failure has 
taught the judicious, at least, the futility of such efforts. 

Bishop Spalding was witness of the rise and downfall of 
the most fanatical party which has sought to destroy the 
church in the United States, by rousing against it the spirit 
of a false and narrow nationalism. Two great political 
parties had for a number of years contended with alternate 
success for the control of national affairs, when the introduc¬ 
tion of the question of slavery into the Whig party led to 
discord and divisions which finally caused its dissolution in 
1854-55. Between these two parties, the foreign population 
of the country had held the balance of power, and hence the 
foreign vote had come to be looked on as forming a distinct 
and separate element in American politics. 

This, together with other causes, had given birth to the 
Native American Party, which, however, had little or no 
influence in the direction of national affairs. As most of the 
foreign voters in the United States were Democrats, there 
existed a natural sympathy between the Whig party and 
the Native American faction. Henry Clay, the great leader 
of the Whigs, confessed the Native American sympathies 
of his party, in a letter which he wrote to John J. Critten¬ 
den in 1844, just after the famous Presidential campaign in 
which the Democrats had triumphed by the aid of the for¬ 
eign vote. 

“ There is a great tendency among the Whigs,” wrote 
Mr. Clay, “ to unfurl the banner of the Native American 
party. Whilst I own I have great sympathy with that 
party, I do not perceive the wisdom, at present, either of 


182 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


the Whigs absorbing it or being absorbed by it. If either 
of these contingencies were to happen, our adversaries 
would charge that it was the same old party with a new 
name, or with a new article added to its creed. In the 
meantime, they would retain all the foreign vote, which they 
have consolidated, make constant further accessions, and 
perhaps regain their members who have joined the Native 
American party. I am disposed to think that it is best for 
each party, the Whigs and the Natives, to retain their re¬ 
spective organizations distinct from each other, and to culti¬ 
vate friendly relations together.” * 

When, at length, in consequence of the death of Clay, the 
disastrous defeat of General Scott in the Presidential cam¬ 
paign of 1852, and its own internal dissensions, the Whig 
party became thoroughly disorganized, it is not astonishing 
that its members should have very generally sought refuge 
in the Native American party. 

It was necessary, however, to find something more than 
mere opposition to the foreigner. The foreign population 
was, to a great extent, Catholic ; and the Bedini riots and 
the No-popery fanaticism which the infidel refugees of 1848 
had succeeded in exciting, led the organizers of the new 
party to believe that opposition to the church would increase 
their chances of success. 

The most un-American and disgraceful party which has 
blackened our political record was accordingly organized, 
and Kentucky, which had been devoted to Clay and the 
Whig party, became a stronghold of the Know-Nothing 
conspiracy. 

The Louisville Journal the great organ of Clay and the 
Whigs, sold itself to the new faction, and led in the anti- 
Catholic crusade. The Catholics of Kentucky had the right 
to expect at least courtesy and fairness in the attacks made 
* Life of Crittenden , vol. i. p. 224. 


The Know-Nothing Conspiracy . 183 

upon themselves and their faith through the columns of the 
Journal , since many of them had for years been the personal 
and political friends of George D. Prentice, the editor of the 
Know-Nothing organ. Unfortunately, we do not need this 
example to show how utterly base and vulgar political jour¬ 
nalism is capable of becoming, when the exigencies of party 
demand the sacrifice of principle and decency. 

To stir up the Protestants of Kentucky to fanatical hatred, 
not only of the church, but of Catholics, whether native or 
foreign, the vilest calumnies, the most absurd imputations, 
the most palpable lies, were repeated day after day in the 
columns of this newspaper, in a style which, in power of sar¬ 
casm and invective, in wealth of the vulgar comparisons and 
analogies which please the multitude, has rarely been sur¬ 
passed. 

By a remarkable confusion of the sexes and disregard of 
the propriety of things, the church was transformed into 
“ the man of sin ” and “ the woman of Babylon,” “ the son 
of perdition ” and “ the mother of harlots,” “ antichrist” 
and “ the mystery of iniquity.” She was held responsible 
for each particular crime that unfaithful and disobedient 
Catholics had ever committed. 

She was made to answer for the Spanish Inquisition, 
against the cruelties of which she had repeatedly protested ; 
for the Saint Bartholomew Massacre, with which she had 
had nothing to do ; for the Gunpowder Plot, the work of 
three or four misguided men. She was represented as the 
enemy of liberty and education, as gloating over the miseries 
and misfortunes of humanity—in a word, as fiendish in all 
her aims and purposes. The American bishops, it was as¬ 
serted, were the secret political emissaries of the Pope, and 
were plotting the overthrow of the government and the 
destruction of American liberty. 

In the excited state of the public mind this nonsense 


184 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


passed current, and led to those scenes of violence and 
blood which, on the 5th of August, 1855, blackened the 
fair name of Louisville by deeds which, in cruelty and heart¬ 
lessness, have not been surpassed in the annals of the North 
American Indians. Into the details of that day’s history I 
have no desire to enter, except as they directly relate to the 
life of Bishop Spalding. 

The insane rumor had been circulated—and it was believed 
by the rabble, which had been wrought upon to frenzy by 
designing men—that Bishop Spalding had organized the 
Catholics of the city, and that they were prepared to defend 
themselves on the day of the election. Arms, it was said, 
had been stored away in various churches, and especially in 
the basement and tower of the cathedral. 

About noon on “ Bloody Monday,” as the day is still 
called in Kentucky, the mob was hurrying through Shelby 
' Street to St. Martin’s church, with the intention of burning 
it, w r hen John Barbee, the mayor of the city, and one of the 
leaders of the Know-Nothing party, arrived and sought to 
dissuade them. His efforts were for a time ineffectual, but 
the leaders finally consented to remain quiet until the church 
could be searched. The mayor brought back word that no 
arms had been found, and persuaded the mob, after having 
assured them that they had already elected their candidates, 
to withdraw under the command of Captain Rousseau. 
During the afternoon and evening of the same day, threats 
and movements were made which showed that the mad 
rabble had designs against the cathedral. The mayor was 
informed of this, and, together with two councilmen, he 
waited on Bishop Spalding, and asked to be allowed to 
search the building in order to satisfy the mob. Permission 
was granted, and the mayor and councilmen, after fulfilling 
their mission, issued the following notice, which probably 
saved the cathedral from destruction : 


“Bloody Monday ” 


185 


“ We, the undersigned, have in person carefully examined 
the cathedral, and do assure the community that there are 
neither men nor arms concealed there ; and, further, that 
the keys of said cathedral on Fifth Street are in the hands 
of the city authorities. 


John Barbee, Mayor. 


T. W. Reilly, 
J. A. Gillis, 


| Councilmen.” 


The Catholic churches and institutions escaped destruc¬ 
tion on Bloody Monday, but inoffensive and peaceable 
Catholics had been murdered in cold blood in the streets; 
their houses had been set on fire, and when the helpless 
inmates had sought to fly from the flames, they were shot 
down by fiends who stood around to see that none should 
escape. “We have just passed through a reign of terror,” 
wrote Bishop Spalding to Archbishop Kenrick, “ surpassed 
only by the Philadelphia riots. Nearly an hundred poor 
Irish and Germans have been butchered or burned, and 
some twenty houses have been consumed in the flames. 
The city authorities—all Know-Nothings—looked calmly 
on, and they are now endeavoring to lay the blame on the 
Catholics.” 

The Journal , indeed, sought to shift the responsibility of 
these atrocious crimes to the shoulders of the Catholics, 
who, it was hinted, had been urged on by the Bishop and 
priests. 

This base calumny was published while the city was still 
under a reign of terror, and when it was feared that the 
mob would yet burn all the Catholic churches. Indeed, 
the threats to burn the cathedral were repeated the morning 
after its publication; and on the same day over a hundred 
German families, in dread of their lives, left the city, whilst 
others were preparing to leave. 


186 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


The following “ card/' in answer to the charge made by 
the Journal was written by Bishop Spalding when there 
was still the greatest fear that the bloody scenes of Monday 
should be renewed: 


“ TO THE PUBLIC. 

“FELLOW-CITIZENS: In the Louisville Journal of this 
morning I find the following passage: ‘We are not now 
prepared to say that they ’ (assaults committed by for¬ 
eigners) ‘ . . . . were instigated by the direct instruc¬ 

tions of men with fiendish hearts, who control, in a great 
measure, the passions, and are able to dictate the actions, 
of the Germans and Irish who made these attacks.’ If, as 
some have understood it, this passage was meant to refer to 
the Bishop and the priests of this city, I beg respectfully, 
but most distinctly and earnestly, to deny the truth of the 
injurious insinuation conveyed by its language. I have my¬ 
self been, until the last day or two, confined to my room for 
two weeks by illness; and I have the most positive infor¬ 
mation that none of the Catholic clergy of this city have had 
any agency, direct or indirect, in bringing about the recent 
lamentable outrages, which no one deplores more than we 
do. Our voice has been uniformly for peace. We have not 
even in any way interfered with the late election, being 
overwhelmed with laborious duties in an altogether differ¬ 
ent sphere. I venture, also, to appeal to the sense of 
justice and fairness manifested for so many years by the 
editor of the Journal , and to ask him to correct an impres¬ 
sion so injurious to us, if such was the meaning of the pas¬ 
sage, which I am loath to believe. To all whom the influence 
of my voice can in any way reach, I beg to say that I 
entreat them, in the name of Jesus Christ, the God of 
peace, to abstain from all violence; to remain quietly at 
home or attending to their business ; to keep away from all 


“Bloody Monday? 


187 

excited assemblies, and, if they think they have been in¬ 
jured, to return good for evil, and to pray for those who 
have wronged them. I appeal to them and the world, 
whether this has not always been the tenor of my instruc¬ 
tions to them, both public and private, and also that of all 
the Catholic clergy. I have too high an opinion of my 
fellow-citizens of every class to believe for a moment that 
the threats which have been made by some will be carried 
out. I entreat all to pause and reflect, to commit no vio¬ 
lence, to believe no idle rumors, and to cultivate that peace 
and love which are the characteristics of the religion of 
Christ. We are to remain on earth but a few years: let 
us not add to the necessary ills of life those more awful 
ones of civil feuds and bloody strife. 

M. J. Spalding. 

“ Louisville, August 7, 1855.”* 

* From the Hon. B. J. Webb I have learned that four of the leaders 
of the Know-Nothing- party in Louisville afterwards expressed in his pres¬ 
ence sincere regret that they had ever had any connection with the move¬ 
ment. As none of them are now living, I may be allowed to state that the 
persons referred to were George D. Prentice, General Humphrey Marshall, 
Mayor Barbee, and Judge Caleb W. Logan. The last-named of these gen¬ 
tlemen wrote the articles in the Journal in reply to the “ Letters of a Kentucky 
Catholic,” in which Mr. Webb has so ably defended the church against the 
charges made by the Know-Nothing press. 


CHAPTER XV. 



THE “ MISCELLANEA ”—CONTROVERSY WITH PROFESSOR 

MORSE. 

NE who knew Bishop Spalding intimately, and 
who was with him almost daily during the anti- 
Catholic agitation in Louisville, has told me 
that he observed in him, in the many embarrass¬ 
ing and trying circumstances in which he was then placed, 
a more than usual peace of mind. He spent the greater 
part of his moments of leisure in the sanctuary in prayer, 
and seemed, through communion with God, to grow un¬ 
conscious of the trouble which men were seeking to bring 
upon the church, and which he could not but feel most 
keenly. 

There was not even the shadow of a pretext for accusing 
him of meddling with political affairs. “We ourselves,” he 
wrote at this time, “ 1 though native here and to the manner 
born,’ have never even voted on a political question, and 
we believe that most of our brother prelates and clergymen 
have adopted the same prudent precaution; not, surely, 
through any want of interest in the country, but chiefly 
with a view to remove from the enemies of our church the 
slightest pretext for slandering our religious character. 
The only influence we have sought to bring to bear on 
the members of our communion has been invariably in the 
interests of peace, of order, and of charity for all men, even 
for our most bitter enemies. Whenever we have had occa¬ 
sion to address our people on the eve of elections, we have 



The “ Miscellanea? 


189 


counselled them to avoid all violence, to beware of being 
carried away by passion, to be temperate, to respect the 
feelings and principles of their opponents, and, in the 
exercise of their franchise as citizens, to vote conscien¬ 
tiously for the men and measures they might think most 
likely to advance the real and permanent interests of the 
Republic.” * 

The views of Archbishop Hughes on this important sub¬ 
ject do not differ from those advanced by Bishop Spalding 
in the words just quoted. “ I hold,” he wrote, “and have 
ever held, that the position of a clergyman forbids him 
from taking any active part in such questions (political), and 
that he could not be a partisan without at once endangering 
and degrading his influence as a priest.” And again : “ My 
own principles are, that the American people are able in 
their own way to manage their affairs of state, without any 
guidance or instruction toward any class or religious denomi¬ 
nation, by either priests or parsons.”f 

It was during the anti-Catholic agitation of 1855 that 
Bishop Spalding published his Miscellanea. 

It would have been difficult to give to Americans a book 
better suited to the wants of the then existing state of the 
public mind. The Catholic question was supreme both in 
church and state. It was discussed everywhere; in bar¬ 
rooms, conventicles, lodges, meeting-houses; in the parlors 
of the rich and around the humble hearthstones of the poor. 
Men who had never given religion a thought in their lives ; 
who knew nothing of God or Christ, and who did not care 
to know; who had never even once entered a church, took 
sides, and were loud in denouncing or defending the Catho¬ 
lic Church. But the question with them was not one of 

* Miscellanea —Introductory Address, p. 54. 

f Life by Hassarf pp. 377, 378. 


1 90 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


religion, for had it been it would not have interested them 
at all. Little did they care, for the most part, which was 
the true church, or whether there was any true church. It 
was not a question of salvation, but of election. Yet both 
they who attacked and they who defended were in earnest, 
not indeed that they might find the truth, but that they 
might win the victory. 

For the first time since the Reformation, vast numbers of 
Protestants were examining into the history of the church, 
with a view of defending her against the traditional objec¬ 
tions of Protestantism itself. The prevailing prejudices of 
the non-Catholic mind had given to the controversy its 
shape and bearing. The church was arraigned before the 
tribunal of public opinion, and both the indictment and the 
defence regarded her not in her relations to truth and the 
soul, but in her influence upon society and the American 
Republic. That her whole history proved her to be in 
opposition with the principles of liberty, enlightenment, 
and progress; that the allegiance which her children owed 
to the spiritual authority was incompatible with their duties 
to their country; that she had, whenever it had been in her 
power to do so, persecuted and employed the most cruel 
means to perpetuate her rule ; that many of her doctrines 
and practices were immoral, and consequently dangerous to 
society—such were the chief heads of accusation which her 
opponents sought to make good against her; whilst, on the 
other hand, it became the political duty of numberless Pro¬ 
testants to show that these charges were without foundation 
in fact, and were based on a misconception of her history 
and a false interpretation of her doctrines and practices. 
Now, the essays and reviews comprised in the Miscellanea 
furnished an array of facts and arguments bearing upon all 
these points which could not be found in any other one book 
in the English language ; and they had the additional merit 


Controversy with Professor Aforse. 


191 


of a free, off-hand, straightforward style, peculiarly suited 
to the American taste. They covered the whole ground 
of what was then the Catholic controversy in the United 
States, and, by facts resting upon unexceptional testimony, 
by arguments which appeal at once to the good sense and 
fair-mindedness of the reader, and by the whole spirit and 
temper in which they are written, furnish a defence of the 
church, as against the attacks of her accusers, the strength 
of which could not be easily broken. It was also at this 
time, and by the prevailing temper of public feeling, that 
Bishop Spalding was forced into a controversy with Pro¬ 
fessor Morse concerning the authenticity of the motto 
attributed to Lafayette: “ If ever the liberties of the 
United States be destroyed, it will be the work of Romish 
priests.” 

Little did it matter whether Lafayette had or had not 
said this. Things as bad had been said of Catholic priests, 
time and again, by better men than he, who, to take the 
most favorable view of his character, was remarkable rather 
for noble impulse than for sound judgment or far-penetrating 
thought. If a Catholic, as Bishop Spalding put the case, he 
could not have given expression to the sentiment contained 
in the motto without being a hypocrite; if an infidel, his 
opinion has no more weight than that of Voltaire or Tom 
Paine. He was certainly not a Protestant.* 

* Shortly after Archbishop Spalding’s death, Professor Morse wrote a letter 
to the New York Herald , in which he claimed to have won the victory in 
this controversy. “I retracted nothing,” he says, “for I had nothing to 
retract.” And again : “ I also asserted and proved that Lafayette had used 
nearly the very words of the motto to two Americans, whose names are 
given, and in his conversations with me had expressed the same sentiments.” 
Professor Morse has since died, and as, by his last words on this subject, 
he has sought to produce the impression that he had established the authen¬ 
ticity of the motto attributed to Lafayette, I deem it proper to refer briefly 


192 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding . 


In the spring and summer of 1855, this supposed motto 
of Lafayette stared one in the face, dressed out in all the 
impudence of type, from the headings of newspapers innu¬ 
merable, and from the title-pages of countless no-popery 
pamphlets. At political gatherings and in torchlight pro¬ 
cessions, like a thing of evil, it was seen following the Ameri¬ 
can flag, which, as if conscious of the impending danger from 
popish priests, refused to float on the breeze. In the “ In¬ 
troductory Address ” prefixed to the Miscellanea , which, as 
I have said, appeared during the excitement of the Know- 
Nothing conspiracy, Bishop Spalding had taken occasion to 
state, upon the authority of a leading political paper in Cin¬ 
cinnati, which was distinctly referred to in a foot-note, that 
a letter written by Lafayette had been brought to light, in 
which he denied ever having used the words of the motto. 

This was more than could be patiently borne with. No 
attention was paid to the writer in the Cincinnati Enquirer , 
who was alone responsible ; but Bishop Spalding was as¬ 
sailed by three reverend preachers, who pronounced him 
guilty of a “ most high-handed and daring attempt to 
falsify history ”; of “ villany, mendacity, and literary 
forgery.” 

The only reply which Bishop Spalding made to these 
charges was to publish the article to which he had referred 
in the “ Address,” with the remark that, having given his 
authority in the first instance, his readers were at liberty to 
place what value they might see fit upon it: the most that 
could be said was that it was of no weight. But to de¬ 
nounce him as these reverend gentlemen had done, was 
simply absurd, and he was resolved to take no further notice 
of charges so utterly groundless. If his accusers desired to 

to the leading points in the controversy between himself and Bishop Spald¬ 
ing. This controversy was not sought by Bishop Spalding ; he never sought 
controversy with any one ; it was thrust upon him. 


Controversy with Professor Morse. 


193 


enter into a controversy concerning the authenticity of the 
letter in question, he referred them to the editors of the 
newspaper in which it had first been published. 

As the Bishop’s doughty assailants found themselves 
headed off in this direction, they at once set to work to 
move on him from some other point. 

To Professor Morse, who had gained considerable noto¬ 
riety by a very successful application of the discoveries of 
others in his method of telegraphing, was generally ascribed 
the honor of having discovered or invented this motto of 
Lafayette. He had, in 1836, edited a book with this motto 
on the title-page ; and in the preface he had affirmed that 
Lafayette had made use of the words of the motto in con¬ 
versation with himself, and that he had expressed the same 
sentiment in speaking with other Americans. 

Professor Morse further stated that he had received a 
letter from Lafayette a few days after his last interview 
with him in Paris, in which he urged him, by his sacred 
duty as an American citizen, to make known to his country¬ 
men the serious apprehensions of the French patriot of 
danger to the liberties of the Republic from the Catholic 
priesthood. 

As Professor Morse had thus become sponsor for the 
motto, representations were made to him to the effect that 
Bishop Spalding, by denying its authenticity, had impugned 
his veracity. He therefore reaffirmed what he had written 
twenty years before. Bishop Spalding called for the proof 
of his assertions, and the controversy began. 

Professor Morse adduced in evidence the testimony of an 
anonymous writer, whose name he was not at liberty to give. 
He then referred to his own interviews with Lafayette in 
1831-32 : “ I cannot,” he said, “ at this distance of time, of 
course remember the identical words, but never did he ” 
(Lafayette) “ manifest a doubt of the essential antagonism. 




i 9 4 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


of the maxims and principles of the Papacy and those of 
republicanism, nor any doubt, if the Papacy were trium¬ 
phant, republicanism was at an end.” 

At the urgent request of Bishop Spalding, he proceeded 
to confirm his statement by the testimony of those other 
Americans who had heard Lafayette speak the words in 
question. He first tried to find a military officer in New 
York who, it was reported, had heard Lafayette use the 
words, but this gentleman either could not be found or 
would not testify. 

He succeeded better, however, with the Rev. Dr. Van- 
pelt, of New York. This gentleman had a “vivid and 
distinct ” remembrance of an interview with Lafayette 
shortly after his return from Boston during his last visit 
to this country in 1824. These were Lafayette’s words: 

“ My dear friend, I must tell you something that occurred 
when I was in Boston. I received a polite invitation from 
the chief Catholic priest or bishop of the Roman Catholic 
Church in Boston, to attend his church on the Sabbath. I 
wrote him an apology, saying, as I never expect to be in 
Boston again, and as during the Revolution, when in Boston, 
I worshipped sitting by the side of his excellency, General 
Washington, and as I see that the church and the pews are 
the same, except as they are decorated with paint, I wish to 
occupy the same seat in that church on the Sabbath. ...” 
And again : “ It is my opinion that if ever the liberties of 
this country [the United States of America] are destroyed, 
it will be by the subtlety of the Roman Catholic Jesuit 
priests, for they are the most crafty, dangerous enemies to 
civil and religious liberty.” Such was the testimony of the 
Rev. Dr. Vanpelt. 

Professor Morse brought forward another witness—a cer¬ 
tain Mr. Palmer, of Richmond, Virginia, and then proceeded 
to make good his position by extracts from the speeches of 


Controversy with Professor Morse. 


195 


Lafayette, in which he proclaimed his opposition to a union 
of church and state, and professed himself an ardent cham¬ 
pion of civil and religious liberty. 

This is a brief statement of the arguments advanced by 
Professor Morse to establish the authenticity of the motto. 
He seemed reluctant to give his proofs, and it was only by 
the most searching cross-questioning that they were drawn 
from him. 

Bishop Spalding replied by taking up his heads of argu¬ 
ment, one by one, and showing the testimony which he had 
given to be valueless, and his reasoning inconclusive. 

The anonymous writer, whose name Mr. Morse was not at 
liberty to give, could not, of course, be admitted as a wit¬ 
ness. Besides, since he was put forward as t an apostate 
priest, his testimony was no more above suspicion than 
would have been that of Benedict Arnold against the 
patriots of the Revolution, or that of Judas against Christ 
and the apostles. 

The testimony of Mr. Morse himself was unreliable, for 
various reasons. 

By his own confession, he was unable to remember the 
identical words spoken by Lafayette ; and the general state¬ 
ment of Lafayette’s opinions, even if accurately made by 
Mr. Morse, did not affect the question under discussion. 
But Mr. Morse had spoken of a letter which he had received 
from Lafayette, in which he was urged to make known to 
the American people the serious alarm of the French patriot 
lest the country should be in danger from the machinations 
of Romish priests. This letter Bishop Spalding repeatedly 
called for, challenging Professor Morse either to publish it 
or to produce the original copy. He did neither, but vainly 
sought to screen himself by declaring that he had never 
pretended that the motto was in the letter, whereas he had 
before affirmed that in it Lafayette had urged him to make 


196 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

known to Americans his alarm lest the liberties of the Re¬ 
public should be destroyed by Catholic priests. 

Professor Morse averred afterwards that this letter had 
been seen by several persons, but he persistently refused to 
publish it or to produce it before witnesses in connection 
with this controversy. 

There was still another circumstance relative to Mr. 
Morse’s testimony which had an ugly look. Lafayette died 
in 1834. Professor Morse first published the motto in 1836, 
whereas Lafayette had, in 1832, earnestly enjoined upon him 
the duty of warning his countrymen of their imminent dan¬ 
ger from “ Romish priests.” Why had he waited to perform 
this office for four years after the solemn injunction had been 
laid upon him, and until Lafayette had been in his grave 
two years and five months ? 

And this, too, was not to be forgotten: Mr. Morse had 
first given currency to this motto during the Maria Monk 
excitement, when the many “awful disclosures’’ that were 
being made would likely cause this revelation to be received 
without much questioning. But thus far Bishop Spalding 
had only been gently adjusting Professor Morse on the rack 
of the inquisition. He was now prepared to apply the cru 
cial test. In the same year in which Professor Morse claimed 
to have received the message to the American people from 
Lafayette, that gentleman, in a speech in the French Assem¬ 
bly, had given expression to a sentiment wholly incompati¬ 
ble with that of the motto. 

In reply to a motion to expel from France certain refu¬ 
gees, including the English or Irish monks who were living 
with the Trappists at Melleray, Lafayette had said : 

“ Mistake not rigor for strength, or despotism for power; 
then you will not have need of all these precautions, and 
the Trappists of Melleray will not be more dangerous to 


Controversy with Professor Morse. 197 

you than are the Jesuits of Georgetown to the United 
States.’’ * 

At the very time that he tells Mr. Morse of the danger to 
the United States from the machinations of Catholic priests, 
Lafayette publicly declares in the French Assembly that 
the United States has nothing to fear from even the Jesuits, 
whom, the Rev. Dr. Vanpelt assures us, he considered “ the 
most crafty and dangerous enemies of civil and religious 
liberty.” 

Either Lafayette was the basest of hypocrites, or Professor 
Morse and the Rev. Dr. Vanpelt were lying under a mistake. 

But the “vivid and distinct recollections” of the Rev. Dr. 
Vanpelt were deserving of more special attention. Lafayette 
had said to him, such were his vivid recollections, that when 
in Boston during the Revolution he had worshipped sitting 
by the side of General Washington, and this circumstance 
had led to the conversation in which the Frenchman had 
used the words of the motto or words of like meaning. 

Bishop Spalding set to work and showed that Washing¬ 
ton and Lafayette had never been in Boston together, and 
that consequently they could never have worshipped sitting 
side by side in any church in that city, and that, therefore, 
the Rev. Dr. Vanpelt had a vivid and distinct recollection 
of hearing Lafayette say he had done what it was simply 
impossible that he ever should have done. 

Thus the Rev. Dr. Vanpelt was dismissed with a motto 
very different from that which he had sought to authenti¬ 
cate —falsus in uno , falsies in omnibus. One of Professor 
Morse’s witnesses could not be found, the name of another 
he was not at liberty to give, a third was proven to have 
borne false testimony, and, finally, his own statement con- 

* The speech was delivered April 9, 1832, and is found in the Memoirs 
and Correspondence of Lafayette , published in 12 vols., under the supervision 
of his favorite son, George Washington Lafayette. 


198 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

cerning the letter which contained the important message 
from Lafayette he could not verify, leaving the very strong 
impression that the electric telegraph was not the only thing 
which he had invented. 

In addition to this, Bishop Spalding had shown that La¬ 
fayette had publicly in the French Assembly given expres¬ 
sion to sentiments in direct contradiction with the motto, 
and, consequently, that could it be proved that he was its 
author, the conclusion from the premises would be that his 
opinion on the subject was absolutely worthless, because 
self-contradictory. But Professor Morse, by the verdict of 
the public, had signally failed to establish either the authen¬ 
ticity of the motto, or the trustworthiness of his memory. 

This good came of the controversy—it deprived no-popery 
fanatics of a favorite text, and added another proof, if proof 
were needed, that when the church is to be attacked, bigots 
and fanatics will hesitate at nothing, not even fraud and un¬ 
truth.* 

It may be said of the whole anti-Catholic crusade of that 
day, that the result was favorable to the church. A few 
narrow-minded bigots, whose ignorance was probably in¬ 
vincible,. were really alarmed for the safety of the Bible and 
the country, and were terribly in earnest in seeking to stamp 
out from the American soil every trace of Catholicism ; 
they were joined by the mob of European infidels and radi¬ 
cals, and by the rabble formed by the sloughing of our 
social sores, and this horrid mass of mental obliquity and 
moral turpitude called itself the American party. The 
American people rose up and trod it under foot. 

* Bishop Spalding relates an anecdote of a preacher, who in the midst of 
the Know-Nothing excitement was hurrying a no-popery publication through 
the press. He had written a flaming preface, taking the motto as his text, 
and his manuscript was in the hands of the printer when the reply to Morse 
appeared. He at once went to his publisher, suppressed the preface, and 
wrote another, in which no allusion whatever to the motto was to be found. 


Controversy with Professor Morse . 


199 


They felt that Catholics had been wantonly insulted, 
grossly outraged, and that sympathy which the brave and 
the manly always have for the wronged took the place of 
what had been aversion, or, at least, indifference. We have 
been making rapid strides ever since, with renewed confi¬ 
dence in our fellow-countrymen, increased reverence for the 
institutions which God has given us, and the abiding con¬ 
viction that no evil, not self-caused, will ever befall us in this 
free land. 

“ The Know-nothing excitement,’’ wrote Bishop Spalding 
to Archbishop Kenrick, in January, 1855, ‘‘after doing us 
some temporary harm, will finally result in good. Mary 
Immaculate, quce sola ' cunctas interemit heereses , will see 
to it.” 


CHAPTER XVI. 


THE PROVINCIAL COUNCILS OF CINCINNATI—THE COM¬ 
MON-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

HE First Provincial Council of Cincinnati was held 
in the spring of 1855, and Bishop Spalding, as 
a suffragan of the province, attended this first 
solemn gathering of the bishops of the West. 
He was made Promoter of the Council, and was deputed to 
write the pastoral letter of the fathers to the clergy and 
laity of the province. In the Second Provincial Council of 
Cincinnati, in 1858, and in the third, in 1861, Bishop Spal¬ 
ding held the same office as in the first, and the pastoral let¬ 
ters were also written by him. 

These councils, over which the venerable Archbishop 
Purcell presided, are remarkable for the practical wisdom 
and thorough ecclesiastical spirit which characterize the de¬ 
crees therein enacted. They show a perfect comprehension 
of the wants of the church in the West, as well as of the 
proper manner of meeting them. 

The training of a pious and learned priesthood for the 
ministry was thought to be of paramount importance. To 
this end, it was deemed advisable to establish two provincial 
seminaries: the one to be devoted to preparatory, the other 
to theological studies. It was not the intention of the 
fathers, however, that these seminaries should interfere with 
diocesan institutions already existing. Mount St. Mary’s, 
near Cincinnati, was made the Provincial Theological 
Seminary, and St. Thomas’, in the diocese of Louisville, was 
raised to the rank of a Provincial Preparatory Seminary. 







Provincial Councils of Cincinnati . 20 r 

In the pastoral letter of the Third Council of Cincinnati 
the fathers say: “ We are happy to be able to report that 
both these seminaries are now in a very satisfactory condi¬ 
tion.” In the First Council their attention, in connection 
with the subject of ecclesiastical education, was called to an 
American College, to be founded in Rome by the munifi¬ 
cence of the Holy Father, with the co-operation of the 
clergy and faithful of the United States. The establish¬ 
ment of theological conferences was earnestly recommended. 
“ Such reunions of the clergy, besides promoting that fra¬ 
ternal feeling which is so sweet a bond of Christian and 
clerical union, strongly tend to encourage the study of sacred 
things, to elicit zeal for the salvation of souls, and to estab¬ 
lish uniformity of practice in minor rites and observances.” 

In consideration of the fact that the priests of this country 
belong to various nationalities, and have been trained in 
different schools of theology, the effort to bring about uni¬ 
formity of practice, even “ in minor rites and observances,” 
is of the greatest importance. 

The holding of spiritual retreats for the clergy, annually, 
or at least once in two years, was insisted on. 

The fathers next turned their thoughts to the subject of 
the right education of children. 

“ Earnestly do we desire,” wrote Bishop Spalding in the 
pastoral letter of the First Council, “ to see a parochial school 
in connection with every Catholic church in this province; 
and we hope the day is not far distant when this wish near¬ 
est our hearts will be fully realized. With all the influences 
constantly at work to unsettle the faith of our children, and 
to pervert their tender minds from the religion of their 
fathers ; and with all the lamentable results of these influ¬ 
ences constantly before our eyes, we cannot too strongly 
exhort you to contribute generously of your means to en¬ 
able your pastors to carry out this great work. The erection 


202 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


of Catholic schools is, in many respects, as important an 
object as the building of new churches .” This question of 
religious education was, in the minds of the fathers of the 
Cincinnati Councils, the test of fidelity or infidelity to God ; 
and their earnest convictions on this subject have been produc¬ 
tive of the most important practical results, as the history 
and present condition of that province abundantly prove. 

In their instructions to the faithful concerning the anti- 
Catholic movement, then at its height, they say: “To 
the grievous and utterly false charge of disloyalty to 
this government, your best answer will be to continue to 
do what you have all along sought earnestly and sincerely 
to do—to discharge faithfully all your duties as citizens of 
the Republic, rendering to Caesar the things that belong to 
Caesar, without, at the same time, forgetting to render to God 
the things that belong to God. The Catholic religion exists 
and flourishes under all forms of civil government; it is the 
visible kingdom of Christ on earth, which is not of this world. 
It is incompatible with no well-ordered form of human gov¬ 
ernment, because it interferes with none. Its sphere of action 
is essentially different from and infinitely higher than that 
of any merely human organization. Its ends, its means of 
action, its doctrines, its sacraments, and its government 
all belong or look to the spiritual order. It teaches man the 
way to heaven, and seeks to wean his affections from this 
earth. It wages war with the passions, and inculcates self- 
denial, obedience to constituted authority, humility, and 
charity. All the Catholic Church asks of the world is a free 
passage through it to her proper home in the heavens/' 
As to the power of the Sovereign Pontiff, they solemnly 
declare that it is spiritual in its objects and in its sphere of 
action, and therefore that it cannot possibly clash with any 
of the duties which Catholics as good citizens owe to the 
country in which they live. 


The Common-School System. 


203 


The obligation of Catholics to support the religious press, 
and their apathy and indifference in complying with this 
sacred duty, were recalled to the minds of the faithful. “ We 
entreat you,” say the fathers of the Second Council of Cincin¬ 
nati, “ to awake from your lethargy in this respect, and to 
extend a willing and generous support to those papers and 
periodicals which are published, with the approval of your 
chief pastors, for the explanation and defence of our holy 
faith; especially to those which are published in your own 
province or diocese. As the Holy Father, Pius IX., says: 
‘ Providence seems to have given, in our days, a great mis¬ 
sion to the Catholic press. It is for it to preserve the prin¬ 
ciples of order and faith where they still exist, and to propa¬ 
gate them where impiety and cold indifference have caused 
them to be forgotten.’ ” The declaration of the fathers, as 
to the force which they intend these decrees shall have, is 
most explicit: “ The Holy See having approved the decrees 

passed in our First Provincial Council of Cincinnati, they 
have the force of law for regulating discipline in this portion 
of the church of God, and they are as such strictly binding 
on the consciences of both clergy and laity. The first decree 
of this council formally accepted and promulgated all the 
decrees previously passed in the eight Councils of Baltimore, 
including those of the last or plenary council. These, then, 
likewise, by the fact of their approbation by the Sovereign 
Pontiff and of their solemn promulgation here, have the 
force of law for our province. 5 ’* 

In the Pastoral Letter of the Third Council of Cincinnati , 
held in 1861, special reference is made to the common- 
school system as it exists in this country. 

“ We think,” say the fathers, “ that few candid observers 
will fail to have remarked the progressive demoralization 
among the youth of our country, and to regret that the 
* Pastoral Letter of the Second Council of Cincinnati. 


204 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


system of common-school education has certainly not suc¬ 
ceeded in obviating this downward tendency, to which we 
may fairly ascribe much in the present alarming condition 
of our affairs. Under the influence of this plausible but 
most unwise system, the rising generation has been edu¬ 
cated either without any definite religious principles at all, 
or with false, at least, more or less exaggerated and fanatical 
principles. The system itself, if carried out according to its 
alleged intent of abstaining from any definite religious in¬ 
struction, is well calculated to bring up a generation of 
religious indifferentists, if not of practical infidels; and if 
not thus carried out, its tendency is to develop false or very 
defective, if not dangerous, religious principles. The facts, 
we believe, sufficiently prove that the influence of our com¬ 
mon schools has been developed either in one or both of 
these directions. We can scarcely explain in any other way 
the manifest moral deterioration of the country, which is 
probably the very worst feature in our present troubles. 
No candid man will deny that public virtue is now very far 
below the standard to which it was raised in the earlier and 
purer days of the Republic, when our fathers admired the 
moral heroism and were guided by the political wisdom of a 
Washington. 

“We have not ceased, on all suitable occasions, to warn 
our countrymen against the dangerous tendency of this 
system, as it has been practically carried out, not merely 
because its operation is very unjust to ourselves, but be¬ 
cause we consider it radically defective and wrong; but our 
appeal has been made calmly, and with due regard for the 
feelings, and even what we might consider the prejudices, 
of others. We feel it to be our most sacred and most 
solemn duty to rear up our children in the knowledge, fear, 
and love of God; and we regard this as the essential ele¬ 
ment, as the very foundation, the life and soul, of all sound 


The Common-School System. 


205 


education among Christians — that which, in fact, distin¬ 
guishes it from education among pagans. As this religious 
training is not possible in the public schools as at present 
organized and conducted, our children are necessarily ex¬ 
cluded from them as effectually as they would be by locks 
and bolts, unless, indeed, we were to become so dead to 
faith as to be willing to sacrifice the religious education of 

our children for a merely worldly convenience. 

. . . . In a country so divided in sentiment as ours is 

on the subject of religion, the only system which would be 
fair and equitable to all would be that which would make 
education like religion, and like all important pursuits— 
entirely free; and if taxes are collected from all for its 
encouragement and support, let them be apportioned fairly 
among the scholars taught certain branches up to a certain 
standard, no matter under what religious or other auspices.” 
In further illustration of Bishop Spalding’s views on this, 
socially and religiously, the most important question of our 
day, I shall here refer to a controversy on this subject which 
he carried on, in the spring and summer of 1859, with 
George D. Prentice, the editor of the Louisville Journal. 

The discussion grew out of Bishop Spalding’s review of 
Joseph Kay’s work on common-school education in Europe. 
Taking the facts as furnished by Mr. Kay, a Protestant, 
Bishop Spalding had shown, first, that in the matter of 
common-school education, France stood first among the 
nations of Europe, and England last, whilst Germany occu¬ 
pied a middle position between these extremes; second, 
that in the educational system almost universally adopted 
in Europe, religion occupied the chief place among the 
branches taught — the principle being generally received 
that education without religious instruction is, at best, 
imperfect and of doubtful advantage; third, that to 
secure religious liberty and safeguard the rights of parents, 


20 6 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


separate schools , supported out of the common-school fund, 
were allowed whenever the minority, whether Protestant 
or Catholic, desired to establish them; fourth, that where 
this plan had been most faithfully carried out, as in France, 
Austria, Prussia, and Bavaria, the common-school system 
had worked best, had given most general satisfaction, and 
had been productive of the greatest good. The logical 
inference from all this was, that the denominational system 
of education, adopted by nearly all the states of Europe, 
was preferable to the common-school system of the United 
States, which ignores religion and excludes it from the pro¬ 
cess of education. That a Catholic bishop should affirm 
this, and, above all, that he should prove it to be true, was 
of course unpardonable. 

Bishop Spalding was therefore accused of being an enemy 
of American institutions, and an advocate of the despotic 
governments of Europe, whilst Catholics in general were 
branded with being disloyal, because they claimed the right 
to agitate in favor of reform in the common-school system 
of the country. His assailant did not call in question the 
facts on which his reasoning was based, but he denied that 
either they or the deductions made from them were applic¬ 
able to the educational wants or to the social and religious 
condition of the United States. 

Apart from the general importance of the subject, there 
were special reasons of a local character which rendered it 
proper that Bishop Spalding should not refuse to accept the 
challenge thus thrown out to him. 

A sectarian school, established for the avowed purpose of 
perverting Catholic children from the faith of their fathers, 
had been recently recognized by the School Board of Louis¬ 
ville, and had received a portion of the moneys of the public- 
school fund. Catholics had thus been made to pay to help 
destroy the faith of their own children. 


The Common-School System . 


207 


Bishop Spalding entered into this controversy the more 
willingly, because it would afford him an excellent oppor¬ 
tunity of publicly denouncing this outrage upon the most 
sacred rights of conscience. 

To the charge that the continued agitation of the question 
of common-school education, after it had been settled by 
the voice of the people, implied disloyalty to the Govern¬ 
ment, he made answer : 

“ We regret the useless agitation of settled questions as 
much, at least, as does the writer; but we have yet to learn 
that, in this free country, a minority which feels itself 
aggrieved by the majority has not the clear right, and is not 
even impelled by duty, to state its grievances, and to con¬ 
tinue to do so temperately but boldly until the wrong be 
redressed. Oppressed minorities surely have rights as well 
as triumphant majorities ; and where they have truth and 
justice on their side, they have even more sacred and more 
valid rights. ... In this country of generous impulses 
and manly sympathy for the weaker side, there is nothing 
which awakens greater interest or excites more admiration, 
than to see an aggrieved minority nobly and persistently 
battling for its rights.” 

Having proclaimed the right of agitation for the redress 
of grievances under a free government, Bishop Spalding 
took up the objections of his opponent, and showed that 
there is no reason to be found, either in the social or 
religious condition of this country, why the denominational 
system of public schools, which had been found to work 
well in Europe, should not be introduced here with equal 
success. 

The Government is not asked, he argued, to assume that 
any form of religion is in itself either true or false. To 
determine this does not lie within the competency of the 
state, as the Constitution of the United States expressly 


208 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


admits. The state, however, recognizes the existence of 
religion, and promises to secure to all its citizens the full 
and undisturbed possession of their religious rights. Now, 
when the state forces the members of a religious denomina¬ 
tion to pay taxes for the support of schools to which they 
are not free to send their children, it violates the liberty of 
conscience which it professes to protect. 

“ But,” objected Bishop Spalding’s opponent, “ we must 
have schools supported by taxation ; for otherwise, as all 
experience shows, vast numbers will neglect to give their 
children any education whatever. It is the part of a wise 
and well-regulated government to encourage education by 
every lawful means, for if the corrupt are unfit to be free, 
the ignorant are incapable of maintaining their liberties. 
Now, in a country like this, where there are so many oppos¬ 
ing churches, the only practicable method of establishing 
schools to be supported by taxation is to exclude the ques¬ 
tion of religion.” 

Bishop Spalding answered these objections, which are 
probably as strong as any which the friends of our common- 
school system can make, by applying the great doctrine of 
free-trade to the business of education. He considered that 
the minimum of state interference was logically contained in 
the American theory of government, and that in proportion 
as we augment the patronage of government, in that same 
degree do we endanger our political institutions. Legisla¬ 
tive and official corruption, which are the principal evils of 
which we complain, grow out of the too great patronage of 
the Government, which leads men to look upon political life, 
not as the road to honor and fame, but as the shortest way 
to wealth. 

The only political remedy for this evil, which has become 
national and which threatens our life as a nation, is to re 
duce the influence of the Government to its lowest expres- 


209 


The Common-School System. 

sion. It is no more the business of the state to teach school 
than it is to run banks or railroads. 

But what does come within its province is the enactment 
of laws for the proper regulation and protection of all legiti¬ 
mate business, which, provided these conditions be complied 
with, should be left to the untrammelled competition of all 
citizens. Now, consider education as a business which the 
state should protect and foster, but which it should in no 
case monopolize. Let the state create a fund for educa¬ 
tional purposes, by taxation, as under the present system ; 
let it make regulations to which all schools claiming a por¬ 
tion of the public moneys must conform ; let it retain a 
supervision over schools to the support of which it contri¬ 
butes, in whatever relates to secular learning, and then let 
Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and infidels build their school- 
houses, and receive a rated proportion of the public moneys, 
provided they conform to the requirements of the law. 

Bishop Spalding held that the system, the outlines of 
which are here given, was not only practicable, but that it 
would give far greater satisfaction than the one now in ex¬ 
istence. The rights of the State would be safeguarded, 
no injustice would be done to any class of citizens, and pop¬ 
ular education, to say the least, would be as universal and 
of as high a grade as at present. It is not to the purpose 
to say that this system would make the state a teacher of 
religion. It would do nothing of the kind. The state under 
it would do simply what it is now T doing, with this differ¬ 
ence, that it would not then force a large portion of its citi¬ 
zens to contribute to the support of schools to which they 
cannot in conscience send their children. 

Concerning the reality and serious nature of the injustice 
which Catholics suffer under the present system of public 
schools, Bishop Spalding did not think there could be two 
opinions. To state the case was, as he looked at it, ta 


210 Life of Archbishop Spalding, 

make it as evident as the most labored argument could 
render it. 

That Catholics have the sincerest conscientious scruples 
as to the danger of sending their children to the public 
schools, their deeds more than their words prove. The sac¬ 
rifices which a man is willing to make in any cause are gen¬ 
erally accepted as the test of his sincerity; and if we apply 
this to the Catholic population of the United States, the 
perfect honesty of their convictions is at once manifest. 

If there were no remedy for this evil, except by withdraw¬ 
ing all state aid for educational purposes, a plausible pre¬ 
text might be found for this system of injustice. That such 
is not the case, the example of other civilized nations has 
proved ; whilst the impartial consideration of our own social 
condition leads to the same conclusion. The Catholic 
Church in this country has taken a far deeper view of this 
most vital question of education than that which has been 
granted to any of the sects ; all of which are either wanting 
in religious earnestness, or ignore the natural laws of religi¬ 
ous development in their exclusive and false theories of the 
special and supernatural action of God in the soul. God 
has subjected the religious instinct or faculty in man, in some 
degree at least, to the same law of evolution which governs 
his other faculties ; and consequently, it must be evolved by 
processes similar to those by which the intellectual and 
moral faculties are educated; otherwise, man’s religious 
nature will remain to a great extent in a latent and poten¬ 
tial state. Now, the whole theory of common-school educa¬ 
tion in this country ignores this all-important psychological 
fact. It will not do, in the vast number of cases, to leave 
religious training to the family influence alone. This is evi¬ 
dent for many reasons. The greater number of parents 
have neither the time nor the intellectual and moral qualifi¬ 
cations which would fit them as religious educators of their 


The Common-School System. 


211 


own children. What would be thought of us were we to 
insist that the intellectual training which children can receive 
at home is all-sufficient ? All experience teaches that were 
education left exclusively to the family, ignorance would 
become universal. In the same way, faith would grow feeble 
and decay if the religious training of the young were left 
to the parents alone. It may be objected that we have 
churches in which the priest can supplement the religious 
education received at home. Without seeking in the least 
to underrate the value of this instruction, it must be admit¬ 
ted that it is altogether inadequate to the purpose. As it 
is the province of religion to control all the actions of life, 
it follows that it must enter into and form part of the gene¬ 
ral training of youth. Since the religious faculty requires to 
be brought out by a process similar to that by which the 
intellect is educated, it is but natural to suppose that this 
cannot be done with any degree of success by a few instruc¬ 
tions given at considerable intervals of time. Believing that 
this is the highest and divinest faculty in man, the church 
holds that at least as much care should be bestowed upon 
its cultivation as upon that of the other faculties. Indeed, 
the exclusion of religious instruction from the school-room 
can be logically justified only on the assumption that reli¬ 
gion is false. If all positive religious dogmas are the off¬ 
spring of superstition, then it is certainly most desirable 
that doctrines emanating from such a source should be, con¬ 
sidered as evil, as tending to the perversion of both the 
mind and the heart. That men who look thus upon all 
positive religion should wish to exclude it from the process 
of education is not surprising; but that those who believe 
that these teachings are revealed of God should concur in 
this, is altogether incomprehensible. The godless school 
theory, then, can have its logical basis only in that system 
of sophistry which holds that all positive religious dogmas 


212 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


had their origin in the credulity, the ignorance and fears, 
of rude and savage peoples. Were this true, the diffusion 
of the spirit of unbelief would be most desirable ; and for the 
accomplishment of this end no better means could be found 
than the godless school system. It is only when we look at 
the question of education from this higher point of view 
that we get a right conception of the determined opposition 
of Catholics to the common-school system as it exists in 
this country, and that we come to understand how such 
men as Bishop Spalding, who in other respects undoubtedly 
admired American institutions, could have no sympathy 
whatever with this theory of education. He was persuaded 
that it was based upon an essentially antichristian phi-' 
losophy, and that, starting out on the implied assumption 
of the untruth of Christianity, its practical tendency was to 
undermine faith in Christ himself. No meddlesome or un¬ 
worthy spirit moved him to protest with such fearlessness 
and vehemence against the public schools. He felt that 
the most sacred interests of the country itself were in danger, 
and that, unless a remedy were applied, the final outcome 
would be the loss of our character as a Christian nation ; 
and his grief was not greater than his astonishment to find 
that the leaders of the various Protestant churches were 
blind to the evils which he deplored, and which did not 
concern Catholics alone, but all who believe in the divinity 
of the Christian religion. 

The undenominational system of schools which we have 
here is precisely that which the infidel party in Europe is 
using every exertion to introduce there, because it perceives 
how fatal it must prove to religion. “ In my opinion,” has said 
one of the leaders of this party, “ every church, whatsoever 
may be the name which it bears or the principle from which 
it springs, is an obstacle to civilization. Every church, for 
the reason that it lays down articles of belief and insists 


The Common-School System. 


213 


upon faith, impedes the development of the human mind. 
Every church is a hamper upon the free flight of the soul. 
I desire that the soul be unfettered, and therefore I desire 
that there be no church. Abolish, then, this whole system 
which teaches man, from his infancy, to believe in a future 
state of life. We must learn how to be atheists.” * 

The great social problem of the age with these men is how 
to give to man on earth the happiness which he has hitherto 
been led to look for only in heaven. Underlying all the 
objections which the various schools of unbelief make to 
religion, is the thought that whatever induces man to act 
with regard to a future state is superstition ; that, conse¬ 
quently, all positive religious dogmas are hurtful to our true 
interests, since by inducing us to think of heaven, they 
cause us to neglect the vital interests of earth. 

It is but natural that men who hold such views should 
wish to exclude all religious instruction from the schools. 
But these views cannot be said, as yet, to represent public 
sentiment in this country. Most Americans still believe in 
God, and have a certain veneration for religion. There is, 
however, a very general feeling with us that religion 
is easily distinguishable from creeds and churches; that 
ecclesiastical organizations are chiefly serviceable as afford¬ 
ing a convenient means of teaching morality ; that the two 
sacraments which still remain to, at least, a portion of Pro¬ 
testant Christianity—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—are 
mere rites, void of efficacy and even of meaning; that the 
minister of religion is only a preacher—a teacher without a 
divine commission ; and, consequently, that church-member- 
ship is simply an affair of convenience, and the choice 
between the different religious denominations of the land 
merely a matter of taste. Hence, there can be little reason 
why we should be astonished that the masses of our people 
* Carl Vogt: Address before the National Assembly in Frankfort. 


214 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

attach no importance to denominational religious instruc¬ 
tion. They do not, indeed, like the infidels of Europe, look 
upon all churches as bad, as obstacles to the progress of 
mankind ; but as little do they consider them divine institu¬ 
tions, essential to the progress of religion, to the welfare of 
society, and the salvation of the soul. Hence, it was alto¬ 
gether natural that in establishing a common-school system, 
no notice whatever should have been taken of the various 
religious denominations of the country. Even among the 
stricter sort of Protestants, the idea, very generally received, 
that religion must proceed exclusively from the- special in¬ 
terference of God, by which the individual, through con¬ 
sciousness of sin, is awakened to repentance, causes them to 
look upon the teaching of religious doctrines as of little 
importance. A stray and dissonant voice is now and then 
raised from the midst of one or other of the sects, to warn 
against the danger to faith from the exclusion of all reli¬ 
gious instruction from the public schools, but it dies away 
without having awakened even an echo. 

Although no one could be more opposed to the public- 
school system than Bishop Spalding, yet he was by no 
means in favor of committing the church to party politics 
in order to effect a reform in this matter or in any other. 
He appealed to public opinion, and sought to enlighten it, 
without, however, deluding himself with the hope that any 
speedy change was to be looked for. He considered that 
he had done but little when he had written and spoken in 
favor of the true theory of popular, as of all, education. 
What God demands of Catholics in this nineteenth cen¬ 
tury, and in this country especially, is not that they talk, 
but that they act. He looked upon the agitation of the 
school question as of very little importance compared with 
the real work to be done. The remedy which he sought, 
and which it was in his power to apply, was to build paro- 


The Common-School System. 


215 


chial schools, into which he strove to gather the children 
of his own people, who showed their religious earnestness by 
generously co-operating with him in this, the most impor¬ 
tant work of the church. 

It will be perceived, from what has been said, that Bishop 
Spalding’s opposition to the common-school system did not 
proceed chiefly, or to any great extent indeed, from fear 
lest special or accidental influences prejudicial to their faith 
should be brought to bear upon Catholic children if allowed 
to frequent the public schools. He objected to the system 
itself, which, as it presented itself to his mind, was based 
upon false principles, and necessarily tended to produce a 
spirit of religious indifference fatal to Christianity, as under¬ 
stood and taught by the Catholic Church. 

The view of religion which common-school education is 
almost sure to develop, is that it is something quite inde¬ 
pendent of ecclesiastical organizations, and consequently 
that it is of no consequence to what church one belong, or 
whether he belong to any; and this view is in direct an¬ 
tagonism with the fundamental idea upon which the church 
is founded. To individualize Christianity is to undermine 
the facts upon which it rests. The humanity of Christ and 
the objective visible church are correlative facts, and both 
are essential to the complete notion of the Christian religion. 
Fellowship with Christ is obtained through communion with 
his church. She alone is his spouse ; she alone the mother 
of his children. Hence, there can be no more pernicious 
error in religion than the theory which the common schools, 
however conducted, must of necessity help to propagate— 
that communion with the church is not of obligation; and 
Bishop Spalding therefore held that these schools, even 
when unsectarian, are still anti-Cathohc. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


DIOCESAN AFFAIRS—TRAITS OF CHARACTER—CORRESPON¬ 
DENCE WITH ARCHBISHOP KENRICK. 

E shall now turn to matters more immediately 
connected with Bishop Spalding’s administration 
of the diocese of Louisville. A few weeks after 
his consecration in 1848, he held, as I have al¬ 
ready stated, an informal synod of his clergy, in which the 
outlines of the statutes which were to serve as the basis of 
his ecclesiastical government were determined. In the next 
synod, a more definite form was given to these decrees, and 
they were solemnly promulgated. After declaring that all 
the decrees of the Councils of Baltimore were to be con¬ 
sidered as binding in the diocese of Louisville, the statutes 
determine the ritual which is to be used in the administra¬ 
tion of the sacraments, and the ceremonial to be conformed 
to in the public functions of the church. They recall the 
instructions of the Council of Trent to pastors of souls, and 
the laws of the church, which forbid priests to meddle with 
secular affairs. 

In connection with the administration of the sacraments, 
the erection of baptismal fonts to be kept under lock and 
key was made obligatory in all places where baptism is 
usually given—that is, where there is a resident pastor, and 
even in other churches this is strongly advised. The custom 
of administering baptism in private houses, which had been 
introduced when priests were few, and when Catholics fre¬ 
quently lived at great distances from church, was abolished, 
except in cases of necessity, or in exceptional circumstances. 





Diocesan Affairs. 


217 


The priests laboring on the missions were required to keep 
baptismal and marriage registers, and their consciences were 
charged with the obligation of faithfully inscribing in them 
the names of the parties, as indicated by the formula. The 
times in which the public exposition of the Blessed Sacra¬ 
ment was permitted by the Ordinary were stated. The 
statutes required that confessionals should be erected in all 
churches in which confessions were to be heard. The faith¬ 
ful were to be warned by their pastors each year in Lent 
of the evils which flow from mixed and consanguineous 
marriages. The custom of performing the marriage cere¬ 
mony in private houses where both parties are Catholics, 
was abolished. Parochial limits and the rights of pastors 
were to be respected. The duty of instructing children 
and the negroes was insisted upon. Those charged with 
the care of souls were required to render annually an ac¬ 
count of the state of their missions. 

These and other disciplinary regulations embraced in the 
diocesan statutes were submitted to the priests in synod 
assembled, and, having been approved of by them, were sol¬ 
emnly promulgated. Judices causarum , with jurisdiction in 
foro ecclesiastico, were appointed, before whom all cases 
within their competency were to be brought. In the second 
and third synods of Louisville, held in 1858 and 1862, fur¬ 
ther enactments, tending to complete and perfect the organ¬ 
ization of the diocese, were made. Ecclesiastical confer¬ 
ences, to be held in the city four times in the year, and in 
the country twice, were established, with a view to keep up 
and cultivate habits of study in the clergy, and also to pro¬ 
mote uniformity of action. 

The administration of Bishop Spalding, which was based 
upon the general ecclesiastical polity which is the natural 
and unhindered outgrowth of the peculiar circumstances in 
which the church has been placed in this country, could in 


2l8 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


no proper sense be called arbitrary. The laws which govern 
the relations of the higher to the lower clergy here form an 
integral part of the exceptional status of the church in the 
United States ; and to change them in an essential manner 
would destroy the unity of the whole system. A great por¬ 
tion of the canon law of the church grew out of her relations 
with the European state, more especially in the Middle Ages, 
which were so entirely different from those in which she is 
placed here, as to render the application of many of those 
laws to our ecclesiastical condition altogether impracticable. 
Many of them have grown obsolete even in Catholic na¬ 
tions, and the church has acquiesced in the new state of 
things. Those laws, indeed, which govern faith and morals 
are of universal obligation. But this is not always the case 
with regulations which are merely disciplinary. That con¬ 
siderable portion of canon law, for instance, which treats of 
ecclesiastical benefices, can have no application to the church 
in this country, nor can that concerning the immunity of 
clerics. The same must be said of the laws relating to the 
rights and privileges of patriarchs and primates. We have 
no primate, and it is not probable that we shall ever have 
one. There is no patronage and no right of presentation to 
ecclesiastical livings here, nor is there likely to be any, and, 
consequently, the canon law on this subject is inapplicable 
to us. The whole system under which young men are 
raised to the priesthood in the United States is an excep¬ 
tional one, not in accordance with the general laws of the 
church on titles of ordination, and it is impossible that this 
should be otherwise. To insist on the introduction of this 
portion of canon law would be to shut out from the sanctu¬ 
ary nine-tenths of the young men who present themselves 
for orders. And this ought not to be lost sight of in a fair 
and enlarged view of church polity in the United States, for 
this titulus missionis , which is an absolute necessity here, 


Diocesan Affairs. 


219 


lies at the root of the relations of the higher to the lower 
clergy, which by some are thought to be abnormal, whereas 
they are only the outgrowth of the circumstances in which 
we have been placed, and which it has not been in the 
power of any man or body of men to change. These relations 
are substantially the same which existed in the first ages of 
the church, when the bishop, as at present in the United 
States, was the only pastor in the diocese. No one, how¬ 
ever, could be less inclined than Bishop Spalding either to 
exercise arbitrary power himself, or to approve of others 
exercising it, and he strongly favored, as we shall see, a 
gradual change in the relations which exist between the two 
orders of the clergy in this country. He himself was cer¬ 
tainly not disposed to remove priests when in loco parochi , 
except for weighty reasons. He was, indeed, from principle 
opposed to frequent changes, as being hurtful to both priest 
and people. In one of his letters he refers to a parish in 
which he had been forced within a brief space of time to 
make several removals of pastors, and he adds that he feels 
ashamed to meet the people of that place, for it looked as 
though he had been trifling with them. He always preferred 
kind to harsh measures, and seldom had recourse to ecclesi¬ 
astical censures. In a conversation on this subject, he said 
that, during an episcopal career of more than twenty years, 
he had exercised the power of suspension but two or three 
times. 

He rarely if ever took any important step without having 
first taken counsel of his advisers, who were known and trusted 
by both the clergy and laity. Even in minor things, he gen¬ 
erally consulted with those who were immediately concerned, 
and, as far as prudence and conscience permitted, allowed 
himself to be influenced by their views. Whoever had a 
complaint to make found him ready to listen; and he was 
always willing to hear both sides before coming to a final 


220 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


decision. He had, however, no conception of the priest¬ 
hood, especially in this country, except as connected with a 
life of hardship and self-sacrifice ; and he therefore expected 
his priests to endure much and suffer many things without 
losing heart, as it was only on this condition that they could 
be true and useful workers in the vineyard of Christ. He 
himself had been brought up and had lived under apostolic 
men, who thought never of themselves, but always of the 
salvation of souls; and all his views of the priesthood were 
colored by the impressions made upon him by the example 
of the noble missionaries who had built up the church in 
Kentucky. “ We should frequently recall to mind,” he said, 
in an exhortation to his priests, “the earnest admonitions 
of that man of God, the founder and first superior of our 
theological seminary, Bishop David, who strove in season 
and out of season to impress upon our minds and hearts the 
necessity of the priest being a man of prayer, wholly devoted 
to his duties, and constantly walking before God, meditating 
upon his law day and night, if he would be perfect, and 
receive from God the priceless gift of perseverance. Many 
of us may also remember the oft-repeated declaration of the 
saintly first Bishop of Louisville, the venerable Flaget, that 
a priest who does not keep up his spiritual exercises and 
make his daily meditation, cannot reasonably hope to perse¬ 
vere to the end. A fearful truth, alas! too strongly illus¬ 
trated by sad experience! These holy men, treading in the 
footsteps of the saints of God, exemplified in their own lives 
the truths which they so impressively taught. They were 
truly the models of the flock and the mirror of the clergy.” 
And again he said: “ The salvation of one soul, venerable 
brethren, is more glorious than the conquest of a kingdom. 
Of all divine things, says an ancient writer, the most divine 
is to co-operate with God for the salvation of souls. This 
is one of the most lofty privileges of our holy ministry; for 


Traits of Character. 


221 


we are ambassadors of Christ, God, as it were, exhorting by 
us. Like the apostles, we have been constituted the fishers 
of men; and if we be so happy as to correspond well with 
the graces of our vocation, we shall, like them, take many in 
the Gospel nets, and lead them to life eternal. Our blessed 
Lord came to send fire on earth, and what does he wish more 
than that it be enkindled in the hearts of all men ? In order 
that we may be able to scatter this heavenly fire over the 
earth, we must take care to keep it always burning in our 
own hearts; for if we be cold ourselves, how shall we be 
able to warm others ? Happy shall we be if, by a constant 
and living union with Jesus Christ, the Source of the divine 
fire, we maintain ourselves in the fervor of the holy priest¬ 
hood, and thus become, like St. John the Baptist, burning 
and shining lights in God’s sanctuary.” 

His own love for the Blessed Virgin made him desire that 
his priests should be her most devout servants, as the follow¬ 
ing words, taken from the pastoral address from which I 
have been quoting, sufficiently prove: “ We exhort you, 
venerable brethren, to cherish in your own hearts, and to 
keep alive in those of your flock, a deep reverence and a 
tender devotion towards the Mother of God our Saviour, 
who, besides being the elected Patroness of the church in 
the United States, is in a special manner the queen of the 
clergy and the tender mother of all the priests of God, as 
she was and is the mother of the great High-Priest from 
whom we derive all our ministerial powers. Revered, 
obeyed, and beloved by her divine Son while on earth, 
she now shines with brightness unspeakable in heaven, the 
ever compassionate and devoted mother of all who are the 
adopted brethren of her Son. Her mother’s countenance 
beams with special interest and kindness on the priests of 
God’s church, who, under Christ, carry on the great work for 
which he died on the cross. Mary conceived without sin is 


222 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


the master-work of God, more radiant far than was the first 
mother of the human race, in all the loveliness of her prime¬ 
val innocence. She is the brightest ornament of heaven as 
she was of earth ; in her and through her we see retrieved the 
degradation of her sex, and of the whole human race, brought 
about by the disobedience of the first Eve. With such a 
mother in heaven, sweetly smiling on us in our labors, we 
cannot fail to feel courage and consolation amidst all our 
tribulations, and to be cheered by the abiding hope that, 
when the brief days of our sorrowful exile shall be over, she 
will show us the face of Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb, 
in the haven of eternal rest.’" 

Bishop Spalding certainly gave to his clergy the example 
of a life wholly devoted to the cause of religion. Few men 
more single-hearted than he have ever lived. Practical ex¬ 
perience of life had made him wiser, but he still had all the 
ingenuousness and transparency of character that belong to 
childhood. With a faith that not even the shadow of a 
doubt had ever obscured, with a devotion that had never 
known any other object than God, with a zeal that never 
grew cold, he labored to be what he had proposed to him¬ 
self years ago as a student in the Propaganda—useful to the 
church of Christ. He was almost a constant sufferer, and 
had frequent attacks of severe illness ; but not even bad 
health could destroy his energy, or prevent him from per¬ 
forming the arduous duties of his office. If able to sit up, 
he was sure to be at work, and even when confined to bed 
he allowed his mind no repose. And yet he was not of a 
restless or nervous temperament, but could be busy without 
bustle. He had made it a rule of life not to defer what he 
could do at the present moment, and what he was, sooner 
or later, bound to do. I have seen him leave the society of 
friends, in the midst of an interesting conversation, to say a 
portion of the office the very first moment it fell due. A 


Traits of Character. 


223 

year or two before his death he told me that during nearly 
forty years in which he had been laboring on the missions 
in one capacity or another, he had never said Mass without 
having first absolved the matins and lauds of the day. 

This fact of itself, as they who are acquainted with the 
duties of missionary priests and bishops will readily admit, 
testifies to a life governed by system and order. 

He was in the habit of visiting his diocese on horseback, 
and later in a buggy, which he generally drove himself. But 
on a smooth and level road his faithful horse needed not a 
driver, and then the Bishop gave him the reins whilst he 
said the office of the Breviary. 

I shall never forget the pleasant journeys which, when 
quite a small boy, I had the happiness to make with him. 
His merry laugh, that might have been that of a child who 
had never known a sorrow or a care, the simple and naive 
way he had of listening to the prattle of children, the whole 
expression of the countenance showing a soul at rest and 
happy in the work which he was doing, are still present to 
my mind, like the remembrance of flowers and sunshine. 
And I remember, too, with what warmth and reverence 
and love he was received everywhere, and how his presence 
was never connected in my mind with anything morose or 
severe. Eyes that seemed to have looked for his coming 
grew brighter when he had come, and when he was gone it 
was like the ceasing of sweet music which one would wish 
to hear always, but which, even when hushed, keeps playing 
on in the soul, attuning it to gentler moods and higher 
thoughts. He was full of human sympathies and human 
ways. The purple of the bishop never hid the man ; nor 
did he, because he belonged to the supernatural order, cease 
to be natural. There was, indeed, a certain elegance and 
refinement about him which no one could fail to perceive— 
the true breeding of a gentleman ; but withal he was as 


224 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


plain as the simplest Kentucky farmer. He rarely talked 
about learned things; and, when he did, he did not talk in 
a learned way. He possessed naturally remarkable powers 
of adaptation, which enabled him to feel perfectly at ease 
in circumstances and companies the most dissimilar. There 
was not a poor negro in his whole diocese with whom he 
was not willing to talk about anything that could be of 
advantage to him. I remember particularly how kindly he 
used to speak to the old servants of his father, who had 
known him as a child. He had a special sympathy with 
this whole race, and I have known him, whilst Archbishop 
of Baltimore, to take the trouble to write a long letter to an 
old negro in Kentucky who had consulted him concerning 
his own little affairs. 

He frequently wrote to children ten or twelve years old, 
from whom he had received letters. In company where 
there were children, he never failed to devote himself to 
their amusement, even to the forgetfulness of the claims of 
more important persons. When at home, he usually passed 
the forenoon in writing, or in receiving those who called to 
see him on matters of business. After dinner, he spent 
some time in conversation, which he always enjoyed, and 
then withdrew to his room to say vespers, with matins and 
lauds for the following day. In summer, he kept up an old 
Roman habit of taking a short repose in the afternoon. He 
would then walk out, calling in here and there to visit some 
school or convent, or to spend a few moments with some 
Catholic family. On the street, he would stop to greet, 
with a few pleasant words, almost every acquaintance he 
chanced to meet. Frequently he would remain to tea at 
the house of a friend, after which he returned to his room 
to write or read until the hour for retiring for the night 
arrived. The rule in his house was, that every one should 
be in at ten o’clock, when the door was locked. Apart from 


Correspondence with Archbishop Kenrick. 225 


this regulation, he never interfered with the tastes or hours 
of the priests of his household. In the cathedral, he had 
his own confessional, and, when at home, he was generally 
found there on Saturday afternoon. And it was his custom 
to preach at the late Mass on Sunday. 

The financial affairs of the diocese he entrusted, for the 
most part, to his brother, the Very Rev. B. J. Spalding, to 
whose prudence and foresight he was greatly indebted for 
the freedom from money-troubles which he enjoyed. 

When Bishop Spalding wished to engage in serious liter¬ 
ary work, he usually left his episcopal residence, and sought 
some quiet place where he could be free from interruption. 

In a letter to Archbishop Kenrick, to whom he was in 
the habit of writing every few days, he says : “ I shall look 
with much interest for your volume on Job and\the Prophets. 
How you can find time, amidst all your labors, to attend to 
the severe Scriptural studies requisite for the gigantic work 
you have nearly completed, almost exceeds my comprehen¬ 
sion. When I write, I have to run off for a few days, as I 
have not the knack of doing two or more things at once. I 
have a snug little country-house at Portland suitable for this 
purpose.” 

To Archbishop Kenrick he opened his heart, with the 
most perfect freedom and simplicity, on all subjects, and in 
return he received the full and entire confidence of that 
great and truly Christian bishop. They wrote to one an¬ 
other about their labors, their projects for the good of the 
church, their literary occupations, making suggestions and 
criticisms with the freedom which only true and long-tried 
friendship justifies. 

An Episcopal clergyman of Baltimore, who shall be name¬ 
less here, had given currency to the stupid slander of the 
Louisville preachers, to which reference has already been 
made in connection with the Morse controversy. He had 


226 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


even taken the trouble to send the calumny to England, 
where it had been published as a striking example of the 
corruptions of Romanism. 

Had Bishop Spalding known his accuser, he would, I 
think, have taken no notice of him. But as he had never 
even heard of him, and as the absurd accusation had been 
made in connection with a controversy which had attracted 
considerable attention, he thought proper to defend himself. 

In writing to Archbishop Kenrick, he had said something 
about having his defence inserted in the Mirror, in case the 
slander should be repeated. To this the Archbishop replied, 
in a playful manner, that Bishop Spalding was evidently 
anxious to involve him in one of those “ pugnacious ” dis¬ 
putes of which he was so fond. In answer, the Bishop 
wrote : “ I did not wish to involve you in any ‘ pugnacious ’ 
contest, but simply to request that a word of explanation 
should be inserted in the Mirror , in case I should be 
attacked in Baltimore without my immediate knowledge. 
I am one of the most peaceable men living—more so, proba¬ 
bly, than was the Doctor Acerrirnus who is canonized ; but 
I must defend myself when attacked. Sometimes the best 
mode of defence is to carry the war into Africa, and not 
always to stand rigidly by the motto in Moliere: Si je me 
defends , ce nest, qu en reculant .” 

This was written in 1859, a short time before the opening 
of the American College in Rome, and when it was also 
deemed probable that the Second Plenary Council of the 
Bishops of the United States would soon be convened; 
and, in the letter from which I have been quoting, refer¬ 
ence is made to both these subjects. 

“ I was under the impression that Bishop O’Connor was 
to go to Rome to superintend the opening of the American 
College. I sent Cardinal Barnabo a check for $1,000, which 
is all I have been able to collect. Our Kentucky Catholics, 


Correspondence with Archbishop Kenrick. 227 

as Father Badin used to say, do not belong to the sect of 
the Donatists ; and we need not wonder at their orthodoxy, 
since we know they came from Maryland. Perhaps at the 
Plenary Council we may be able to form a general associa¬ 
tion for the relief of converts, and also to agree upon some 
plan to give them a status in the church, which is even more 
important. I do not see why such married converts as Dr. 
Ives and Dr. Huntington might not be ordained lectors, or 
even receive all the minor orders. They could then, under 
the direction of the ordinaries, give catechetical instruction 
in the churches, and superintend the parochial and Sunday- 
schools, with regular salaries from the congregations. I 
hope a plan may be matured for the purpose. To have 
them depend on precarious alms is uncertain and humiliat¬ 
ing. I enclose my quota. I am glad you are continuing 
your revision, but still regret that Dr. Newman and the 
English bishops do not unite with you in bringing out a 
common, popular version, which is a great want.” 

Bishop Spalding, it would seem, afterwards saw fit to 
modify his opinion as to the work which married converts 
may be permitted to perform in the church ; for I find, in 
another of his letters, the following sentence : “ Rome will 
never consent, in my opinion, to allow married men to re¬ 
ceive even minor orders.” 

To the subject of the English version of the Bible he fre¬ 
quently refers, in his correspondence with Archbishop Ken¬ 
rick. Dr. Newman’s unequalled knowledge of English could 
not, he thought, be employed to better purpose than in 
giving to the great English-speaking Catholic body an 
idiomatic version of the Scriptures. This was also Arch¬ 
bishop Kenrick’s opinion, who was willing to co-operate 
in the work; and negotiations were, in fact, begun with a 
view to secure the services of competent persons, both in 
Great Britain and in this country. Unfortunately, however, 


228 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


owing to causes which I need not here relate, no practical 
result came of this project. 

With reference to the general plan of Archbishop Ken- 
rick’s version of the Bible, Bishop Spalding, in his corre¬ 
spondence with that amiable and learned prelate, expresses 
his opinion with great freedom. “ I think,” he says in one 
of his letters, “ the notes should be more doctrinal, without, 
however, being precisely polemical. Some, which are merely 
critical, might be omitted in the popular, and developed 
more fully in an enlarged edition. As the people have been 
so long accustomed to the Douay version, it might be well 
not to depart from it unnecessarily, or except with a view to 
make the rendering more English and less Latin, or for the 
sake of greater accuracy.” In a subsequent letter he refers 
more particularly to the version of the New Testament. 
“ I have just received and examined your New Testament. 
I am much pleased with it; the small blemishes which had 
been remarked in the first edition have been removed. I 
welcome it as a most valuable contribution to our sacred 
literature. I expect to use it for the first time in the cathe¬ 
dral next Sunday; and gradually to introduce it as a text¬ 
book in our other churches. Had I received it before our 
diocesan synod, in August, I should have officially recom¬ 
mended its adoption to my clergy. The notes must have 
cost you immense labor; in fact, I can scarcely conceive how 
you have been able to refer to so many readings and autho¬ 
rities. . . . It is hard for the most perverse critic to 

censure mildness, especially in a Catholic prelate. Still, I 
have been tempted to wish that you had been a little more 
pointed in noticing certain Protestant readings, which have 
usually been regarded as perversions of the text.” 

In a letter to Archbishop Kenrick, written in February, 

1861, Bishop Spalding returns to this subject, in which he 
evidently took very great interest. “ Our provincial coun- 


Correspondence with Archbishop Kenrick . 229 


cils will be held this spring, or at least during the course of 
the present year. Would it not be well to avail yourself of 
the occasion to secure the co-operation of your brethren in 
having your version of the New Testament adopted as the 
standard text for this country?” 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION—VIEWS ON THE DUTIES 

OF ECCLESIASTICS IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE 

STATE—EPISCOPAL LABORS. 

N his correspondence with Archbishop Kenrick, 
Bishop Spalding frequently makes allusion to 
his own literary labors. The first work which he 
published was the Review of D'Aubignf s History 
of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. 

He had chosen precisely the kind of writing best suited 
to his style and habits of thought, for he possessed great 
power as a reviewer. 

The refutation of D’Aubigne, who is little more than a 
pleasant writer of romance, was complete and unanswerable ; 
and the reception with which Dr. Spalding’s book met, at 
once placed him among the most popular Catholic authors 
of the day. But his review of D’Aubigne was confined to 
the history of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, 
and consequently left untouched that portion of the great reli¬ 
gious innovation of the sixteenth century, which was of 
most interest to the public to which his work was more 
immediately addressed. In 1859, nearly twenty years after 
the publication of his first volume on the subject, Bishop 
Spalding determined to write a more complete and general 
history of the Reformation. 

“ My essay,” he wrote to Archbishop Kenrick, “ on the 
History of the Reformation will be published in two octavo 
volumes, the first of which will contain the original work on 
Germany and Switzerland, remodelled, and prefaced by a 






History of the Reformation . 231 

lengthy introduction on the state of Europe before the 
Reformation. 

“ The second volume, entirely new, will embrace the his¬ 
tory of the Reformation in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 
the Netherlands, France, and Northern Europe, and will re¬ 
view McCrie’s Knox , Prescott’s Philip II., Motley’s Dutch 
Republic, Ranke’s Civil Wars in France, Fryxell’s Sweden, 
and other works. 

“ I find the gathering of materials more difficult than I 
had supposed. They accumulate so that it is not easy to 
know what to select. I have already reviewed Haller’s 
History of the Swiss Reformation . Prescott is more preju¬ 
diced in his Philip II. than in his previous works; he is, 
however, as an historian, far preferable to Hallam.” 

From this letter it will be perceived that Bishop Spalding, 
in his larger and more complete work on the Reformation, 
did not depart from the plan which he had originally adopted 
in his refutation of D’Aubigne. He still retained the 
character and, to a certain extent, the style of a reviewer, 
which, though subject to disadvantages of rather a serious 
kind, in historical writing, yet gave him greater facility for 
correcting false statements and erroneous impressions, which 
were the more pernicious because of the great authority of 
the names of those who had given them their sanction. 

He was thus able to obtain a double end—to furnish a re 
liable history of the Reformation, and, at the same time, to 
call attention to the errors into which even the best and 
ablest non-Catholic writers on this subject had fallen. 

Bishop Spalding does not consider history a bare recital 
of events ; but he looks before and after, and in the past 
seeks an explanation of the present, which he would have 
speak words of guidance to the future. He does not belong, 
however, to what Carlyle calls the class of cause-and-effect 
speculators, who compute and account for all things in 


232 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


heaven and earth, attempting even to give an algebraical 
symbol for the infinite, and to reduce the unlimited work¬ 
ings of man’s spiritual life within the narrow compass of a 
formula. The philosophy of history is most generally 
merely the history of the writer’s prejudices and hobbies. 

“ Speculation,” says Bishop Spalding, “ however elaborate 
and philosophical, without a solid basis of facts, is, in our 
view, wholly worthless, if not mischievous, in an historical 
writer, as it can scarcely fail to mislead.” 

In his review of the religious condition of Europe prior to 
the Reformation, he enters into a comprehensive and dispas¬ 
sionate enquiry into the causes which led to the heresies 
and schisms of the sixteenth century. In the following 
brief statement of the question, which covers the whole 
ground, and at the same time gives a very correct and 
just insight into the subject, he concludes from the facts 
which he has developed in this essay: 

“ i. That the amount and extent of the scandals and 
abuses complained of during this period (the Middle Ages) 
have been greatly exaggerated, and that the good more than 
counterbalanced the evil. Evil always excites more atten¬ 
tion and makes more noise in the world than good ; and 
what contemporary writers, even if they were otherwise 
good men, say of abuses and of the persons to whom they 
are to be ascribed, will generally be found to be highly col¬ 
ored ; especially if the writers, as is often the case, have 
their feelings, as partisans, enlisted on the one side or the 
other. Feelings must be calmed, excitement must pass 
away, and affairs must fully work themselves out, before a 
correct and reliable judgment can be formed on any series 
of events. 

“ 2. That these abuses and scandals generally originated 
in the world and its princes, not in the church and its chief 
pastors; most of them being due to the fact that bad men 


History of the Reformation. 


233 


were thrust into the high places of the church by worldly- 
minded and avaricious princes in spite of the Popes, whose 
settled policy was to protest with all their might against a line 
of conduct so very ruinous to the best interests of religion. 
And such being clearly the case, it is most unjust to charge 
those scandals on the church or on the pontiffs. If the 
princes of the earth could have ruined the church, they 
would have done so by their wicked and oppressive enact¬ 
ments. That they did not succeed in inflicting on her more 
than occasional and temporary wounds, we owe to the di¬ 
vine vitality of the church, and to the noble and dauntless 
opposition of the Popes. 

. “ 3. That there was a lawful and efficacious remedy for 
•all such evils, which consisted in removing their obvious 
cause, and giving to the Popes their due power and influence 
in the nomination of the bishops and in the deliberations of 
general ecclesiastical councils, the judgments of which had 
hitherto been always viewed as Anal; that, in one word, 
reformation within the church and not revolution outside of 
it, was the only proper, lawful, and efficacious remedy for 
existing evils, and the one which had always been invoked 
by the wise and the good in all previous ages of Christianity. 

“4. Finally, that the fact of Christians having at length 
felt prepared to resort to the desperate and totally wrong 
remedy of revolution, was owing to a train of circumstances 
which had caused faith to wane and grow cold, and which 
now appealed more to the passions than to reason, more to 
human considerations than to the principles of divine faith 
and the interests of eternity.” 

The History of the Reformation is Bishop Spalding’s most 
valuable contribution to the Catholic literature of our coun¬ 
try. It was published in the spring of i860. The first edi¬ 
tion, which was large, was almost immediately exhausted, 
and a second was called for, which was followed by a third, 


2 34 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


fourth, and fifth edition. Bishop Timon urged the issuing 
of a cheaper edition, saying that he thought fifty thousand 
copies could be sold; and Bishop Spalding was setting 
about this work when the cloud of civil war loomed above 
the horizon and directed men’s thoughts to the history that 
was to follow rather than to that which had gone before. 

Bishop Spalding’s position, during the late civil war, was 
one which required more than ordinary prudence and wis¬ 
dom to meet and overcome the difficulties which presented 
themselves on every side. His people were divided in their 
views and sympathies, and his diocese was frequently occu¬ 
pied, at the same time, by the armies of both the North and 
the South. 

Whatever his personal opinions may or may not have* 
been on the great questions which, at that time, absorbed 
the whole thought of the nation, in his official and eccle¬ 
siastical capacity he scrupulously abstained from all inter¬ 
ference in political and secular matters. In thus seeking to 
remain aloof from the strife and angry passions of the hour, 
he was influenced solely by his sense of duty, based upon 
what he conceived to be the letter and the spirit of the 
American theory of government. Among the papers wffiich 
he left, I have found one on “ The Church and the Country,” 
in which he discusses this question at some length. As this 
paper, which was written about the close of the late war, 
contains a very lucid statement of Bishop Spalding’s views 
on this most important subject, and also furnishes the best 
commentary upon his conduct during the war, I shall take 
the liberty of presenting to my readers some of the thoughts 
which it contains. 

“ The Catholic Church,” wrote Bishop Spalding, “ is 
essentially conservative. She is so both by her origin and 
divinely established constitution, and by her historical rela¬ 
tions to the world. She alone, amid the changes wrought 


The Duties of Ecclesiastics. 235 

by time, has preserved her integrity unimpaired and her 
unity unbroken—the seals of her divine origin. She is not 
only the great conservative, but she is the only union church. 
She alone has power to combine and to blend into unity the 
elements of discord and opposition inherent in human nature. 
She alone unites all nations, peoples, and tribes in the pro¬ 
fession of the one faith, in the reception of the one order of 
sacraments, and in the one form of ecclesiastical government. 
And this example of marvellous unity—without parallel in 
all history—is not merely a phenomenon of the present age, 
hitherto unknown ; it is the ordinary history of the church 
for eighteen centuries. Catholicity unites; Protestantism 
divides. History proves this, whether we confine our view 
to the last three centuries, or enlarge it to the whole period 
during which Christianity has been acting on the world. In 
every age, conservatism and union rest with the church, 
whilst dissensions and divisions are the lot of the sects 
which rebel against her authority. Protestantism, in all 
its phases, is but a repetition, under a different form, of 
the scenes enacted by more ancient sectarism. Everywhere 
we witness the same love of novelty, the same perpetual and 
restless antagonisms, and the same never-ending changes of 
opinion. Having once seceded from the only union church, 
these bodies of fragmentary Christianity find no repose until 
they dissolve into individualism and nihilism. It is well to 
bear these truths in mind, in order to be able better to ap¬ 
preciate the past and present position of the Catholic Church 
towards the American state. 

“ The influence of the church, in past ages, has been, 
according to the testimony of the most distinguished pub¬ 
licists, both Catholic and Protestant, highly beneficial to 
civilization. Her action, however, upon society has been 
modified by the various circumstances in which she has 
been placed. Whilst the European populations were in the 


236 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

process of formation, and were as yet like children under 
tutelage, she was called upon to exert herself more directly 
in the regulation of their affairs, temporal as well as spirit¬ 
ual. But as the organization of society became more per¬ 
fect, she retired more and more into her own cherished 
spiritual domain, in which resided the secret of her won¬ 
derful power and influence over the nations of the earth. 
Whilst these were yet children and needed teachers, she 
provided them with instructors from the exhaustless body 
of her clergy ; while they were without governors or defi¬ 
nite ideas of correct government, she supplied the want 
by bidding them model their constitutions after her own 
divinely established system ; and if she did not appoint 
their rulers, she at least exerted a strong influence over 
them, and thus secured the people from the evils of un¬ 
bridled despotism. In a word, while they were children, 
she directed and guided them as such; when they grew up 
to the age of manhood, and were able to stand alone, her 
influence over their conduct and civil government under¬ 
went a corresponding change, and manifested itself chiefly 
through moral suasion and example. Having been estab¬ 
lished for all nations, she must live and does live under all 
kinds of government. Hence, as a church, she can advo¬ 
cate none to the exclusion of the others. Her kingdom is 
not of this world, and the chief end which she contemplates 
is supernatural, and her means and appliances for attaining 
this end partake of the same heavenly character. 

“We may, then, fairly infer that the church of Christ, to 
be true to her high purposes, should keep herself, as far as 
may be, within her own lofty sphere ; above the region of 
worldly contentions and human passions, into which she 
should never descend, except when impelled by a sense of 
duty or the demands of justice. The church which rises 
above the strifes and angry passions of the day, and con- 


The Duties of Ecclesiastics. 


237 


fines herself to her high spiritual office of promoting peace 
and good-will among men, and of soothing human passions 
and suffering, in so far shows herself to be the church of 
Christ. That this has been the course of the Catholic 
Church in the late war, no one will deny. She has preached 
religion, not politics; she has advocated love, not hatred. 
Devoted to the welfare and permanent prosperity of the 
country, she has thought that she could best promote its 
interests by confining herself, as a church, to prayer and 
ministrations for the relief of suffering of every kind, bodily 
and spiritual. The course almost unanimously adopted by 
the bishops and clergy of the Catholic Church during the 
late terrible civil war has been eminently conservative, and 
worthy of them and of the church of all ages and of all 
nations. In limiting their action to their own sphere of 
duties, they have not for a moment thought that they were, 
in the least, wanting in patriotism, or in the ardent desire 
to do everything in their power to aid their suffering 
country in emerging from its difficulties. In the hour of 
danger, the country has the right to demand that every 
citizen shall do his duty. The Catholic clergy did theirs, 
without, however, departing from their proper sphere as 
ministers of religion. While the Catholic laity were placed 
in every respect on an exact level with their fellow-citizens 
of every other denomination and of no denomination, and 
had the same duties and rights as they; and while they 
fully discharged their duties as citizens and soldiers, as 
politicians and officers, in the full proportion of their num¬ 
bers, the Catholic clergy had also their respective duties, 
which they were by no means remiss in fulfilling. 

“ In a country like this, where there is no union of church 
and state, where the church is happily free, and the state 
stands pledged by the Constitution not to interfere in mat¬ 
ters of faith and worship, there is no sufficient reason, nor 


238 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


even a plausible pretext, for the intervention of the clergy 
in matters of pure politics. The rights and duties of the 
church and the state are reciprocal; and as the state has 
no right to interfere with the church, so the church and its 
ministers have no right to interfere with the state and its 
politicians. Such has, in fact, been the settled policy and 
practice of the church in this country from the very begin¬ 
ning of the Republic; indeed, before its establishment, and 
during the first movements of the Colonies for declaring and 
securing their independence of the mother country. We 
were lately shown a highly interesting paper, in the hand¬ 
writing of the venerable John Carroll, the first Bishop of Bal¬ 
timore. It was written early in 1776, fourteen years before 
he was consecrated Bishop, and contains a copy of his reply 
to the invitation extended to him by the Colonial Congress 
to accompany Franklin, Chase, and Charles Carroll on their 
mission to Canada. Only a fragment of the reply remains; 
but in the portion which has been preserved the future 
founder and father of the American hierarchy furnishes some 
of his reasons for wishing to decline this honorable mission, 
the principal of which was, that it would involve him in 
political affairs, for which his education and profession dis¬ 
qualified him, and to which his sacred calling and his sense 
of honor offered an insuperable barrier. If he was after¬ 
wards induced to accompany the envoys, we may be sure 
that his religious scruples were respected, and that he was 
allowed to confine his co-operation to duties strictly in 
accordance with his religious calling. However this may 
be, the passage which forcibly struck us in the fragmentary 
paper just referred to is the following: ‘I hope I may be 
allowed to add that, though I have but little regard for my 
personal safety amidst the present distress of my country, 
yet I cannot help feeling some for my character; and I 
have observed that when the ministers of religion leave the 


The Ditties of Ecclesiastics . 


2 39 


duties of their profession to take a busy part in political 
matters, they generally fall into contempt, and sometimes 
even bring discredit to the cause in whose service they are 
engaged.’ This sentence states a principle which should 
be written in letters of gold. 

“ That it has been faithfully adhered to by the Catholic 
Church in the United States no one, we think, even slightly 
acquainted with its history, will be tempted to doubt. No 
political discussions have been allowed in our ecclesiastical 
synods and councils, whose deliberations have been exclu¬ 
sively confined to questions connected with the faith, 
morals, and discipline of the church. So far as we have 
been able to ascertain, no bishop or priest of the church 
has even thought of bringing up such matters in our coun¬ 
cils, so general and deep was the conviction that these 
subjects belong to politicians, and would be wholly out of 
place in ecclesiastical meetings. As the state has not in¬ 
terfered with the church, she has not sought to interfere 
with the state. She asks nothing of the state beyond the 
protection of life and property and the freedom of action 
accorded to all good and law-abiding citizens, which the 
state in this country willingly grants; and thus, both church 
and state move onw T ard in their respective spheres in good 
understanding and harmony. These principles have been 
officially proclaimed on all proper occasions. I need but 
refer to the pastoral letters of the fathers of the Provincial 
Councils of New York and Cincinnati, held about the be¬ 
ginning of the war, and to the pastoral letter of Arch¬ 
bishop Kenrick of Baltimore, of the same date, who was 
prevented from holding a council by the troubled condition 
of his province. These official announcements created no 
surprise, for they simply declared the fixed, time-honored, 
and well-known policy of the church in this country. They 
gave no umbrage to the government, for they were but 


240 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


the expression of the logical consequences of the relations 
of church and state as they exist in the American Re¬ 
public.” 

Bishop Spalding has not here advanced any theory as 
to the natural and proper relations of the church and state 
prescinding from pre-existing circumstances. He has sim¬ 
ply stated what are the actual relations of the two powers 
in our political organization, and has shown that the church 
accepts the situation with the most perfect loyalty, without 
mental reservation, and with the full and explicit purpose 
of abiding by all the logical consequences of her position 
in this country. 

In January, i860, Bishop Spalding began to keep a kind 
of journal, which he continued down to the time of his 
translation to the see of Baltimore, in 1864. From this 
journal I shall make such extracts as in my opinion tend 
to illustrate his character or to throw light upon his history. 
During the months of January and February, i860, he was 
engaged in revising and preparing for the press his History 
of the Reformation. It had been his intention to deliver, 
during the winter of i860, a course of lectures in the cathe¬ 
dral of Louisville, on the “ Philosophy of Christianity,” 
but he was prevented by ill health and press of business. 
He proposed, had he been permitted to deliver these lec¬ 
tures, to publish them. The great tendency to deism and 
naturalism in religious matters, which exists so generally in 
this country, called, he thought, for a work which would 
treat, from an American standpoint, the question of reason 
and revelation. About the middle of February, he went to 
Washington City, upon the invitation of Professor Henry, 
to deliver a course of lectures in the Smithsonian Institution. 

“ I have been invited by Professor Henry,” he wrote to 
Archbishop Kenrick, “ to lecture in the Smithsonian Insti¬ 
tution. Before accepting, I should feel more at ease to have 


Episcopal Labors. 


241 


the advice and approval of the ordinary, though lecturing 
is not an ecclesiastical function. I wish also to have your 
opinion as to the subjects which I should treat. I had 
thought of lecturing on the history and elements of modern 
civilization, which would give me an opportunity to state 
what the Catholic Church has done for society without 
trenching upon controversial ground.” 

In a letter to the Archbishop, written after his arrival in 
Washington, he says: “I lectured last evening to a very 
large and respectable audience. Professor Henry expressed 
his entire satisfaction, and requested me to prolong the 
course, which, on account of my Baltimore engagement, I 
cannot well do. I trust these lectures may do some good.” 
Before returning home, he lectured in Baltimore, New York, 
Brooklyn, Boston, and other cities. 

It was about this time that Bishop Spalding induced the 
Brothers of Christian Instruction to open a school in Louis¬ 
ville, and to take charge of the male orphan asylum. A 
new colony of Xaverian Brothers also arrived from Belgium 
during the summer of this year. The Franciscan Fathers 
of the order of Minor Conventuals were received into the 
diocese in the spring, and later they took charge of St. 
Peter’s church, in Louisville, a German congregation which 
had recently been established. A house for the Magdalenes 
had just been erected on Eighth Street, and the Bishop 
blessed it on the 14th of April. During the greater part of 
this spring he was occupied in visiting his diocese. In June 
he received a letter from the rector of the American College 
in Louvain, recommending that it be placed under the direc¬ 
tion of the Propaganda. “ This,” he writes in his journal, 
“ has already been done substantially by a joint letter of 
Bishops Lefevre and Spalding.” In August, Father Sma- 
rius, the Jesuit missionary, preached the retreat for the 
clergy of the diocese, at the close of which two confer- 


242 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


ences were held, in which the Bishop, who had attended all 
the exercises, gave his charge, and promulgated the decrees 
of the Second Provincial Council of Cincinnati. He also 
gave to each missionary a bound volume, containing the 
decrees of the two Diocesan Synods of Louisville, of the 
two Provincial Councils of Cincinnati, and of the first 
eight Councils of Baltimore. He thought the best way to 
develop a more perfect system of ecclesiastical law in this 
country was to observe faithfully what already exists. 

In the fall he continued the visitation of the diocese, 
which had been interrupted during the summer. New 
churches had been built within the last year or two in 
Hawesville, Hickman, Bowling Green, Chicago, Clover Port, 
Shelbyville, at St. Vincent’s, and on Casey Creek. These 
were all dedicated to divine service. In the beginning of 
November he preached the retreat for the students of St. 
Joseph’s College, nearly two hundred in number, forty of 
whom were Protestants. On the 22d of November, St. 
Cecilia’s Day, he delivered the address at the opening of the 
Catholic Institute in Cincinnati, and on the 2d of Decem¬ 
ber he preached at the solemn consecration of the new 
church of St. John, in Louisville; and a few weeks later he 
returned to Cincinnati to preach at the dedication of the 
beautiful church of St. Xavier. 

Whilst in Cincinnati he examined the students in theology 
and philosophy, of Mount St. Mary’s. The diocese of 
Louisville had at this time fourteen students in theology. 

Upon his return he began a course of lectures in the 
cathedral on the Old Testament. Ever solicitous that even 
the poorest congregations in his diocese should enjoy the 
greatest possible spiritual advantages, he appointed, in the 
beginning of 1861, one of his priests to give missions in the 
remoter parts of the State. 

In March of this year, Bishop Spalding visited the diocese 


Episcopal Labors. 


243 


of Fort Wayne, upon the invitation of Bishop Luers, to lec¬ 
ture in various places for churches that were in debt and for 
other charitable objects. 

Returning home, he preached the retreat at Nazareth, 
beginning on the Feast of St. Joseph; and then, at the 
request of Archbishop Purcell, he wrote the pastoral letter 
of the Third Provincial Council of Cincinnati, which was to 
be held in May. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


THE CIVIL WAR AND THE CHURCH IN KENTUCKY—STATE 
OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISVILLE—BISHOP SPALDING IS 
APPOINTED TO THE SEE OF BALTIMORE. 

HE danger of civil war was now becoming each 
day more imminent, and Bishop Spalding en¬ 
joined that the prayer for peace should be said 
in his diocese at all the Masses. At the opening 
of the Provincial Council, he preached on the peace of God. 
On almost every page of his journal he gives evidence of 
the great anxiety which the troubled state of the country 
caused him to feel. After the first battles, he ordered the 
solemn service for the dead to be held in all the Catholic 
churches of the city, and in the cathedral he addressed the 
multitude which had assembled, exhorting them to pray 
for the return of peace and brotherly love. A recruiting 
camp had been formed in Indiana, opposite Louisville, in 
which large numbers of soldiers were enlisted and got 
ready for service in the field. Bishop Spalding, thinking 
only of souls, obtained permission of General Rousseau, 
who was in command, to send priests to the camp to 
instruct and prepare the Catholic soldiers before their 
departure for the scene of war. 

By the efforts of the missionaries, nearly all of them were 
induced to approach the sacraments, which, for many, was 
the first time in years. Quite a number, indeed, had never 
received communion before. 

The church in Kentucky soon began to feel the evil 
effects of the war, especially in its institutions of learning, 





The Civil War and the Church . 


245 


which, when the civil strife broke forth, were in a most pros¬ 
perous condition. St. Joseph’s College, which had nearly 
two hundred students in i860, was closed in the fall of 1861, 
and converted into a hospital, by military authority. At 
Nazareth, which, during the previous year, had had two 
hundred and fifty pupils, there were now only forty. St. 
Mary’s College, which for several years had been unable to 
accommodate all who applied for admission, was left almost 
without students. St. Thomas’, which had been raised to 
the rank of a Provincial Seminary in the First Council of 
Cincinnati, and which, at the breaking out of the war, was 
in quite a prosperous condition, soon languished and de¬ 
clined in consequence of the disturbed and unsettled state 
of things in Kentucky ; and the other academies and schools 
of the diocese suffered in a similar manner. 

In the summer of 1861, Bishop Spalding went East. He 
preached at the dedication of the church of Our Lady of 
Peace, at Niagara Falls. At Saratoga he preached again 
and lectured. In Philadelphia, he gave the retreat to the 
clergy of the diocese. 

During this visit, he received from a well-known priest of 
Philadelphia a burse of two thousand dollars for St. Thomas’ 
Seminary. He arrived home in September, in time to cele¬ 
brate the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral, and 
to preside at the opening of the mission which was to be 
preached to the congregation by the well-known Jesuit 
Fathers, Smarius and Damen. Missions were given, about 
the same time, to the congregations of St. Patrick and St. 
John. Six thousand five hundred persons approached the 
sacraments in the three parishes, and fifty converts were 
received into the church. I11 the fall and winter of 1861, 
the outlook in Kentucky was anything but encouraging. 
A hundred thousand Federal troops lay between Louis¬ 
ville and Bowling Green, and the State, south of Green 


246 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

River, was held by a large Confederate force. Everything 
seemed to indicate that Kentucky was to become the great 
battle-ground of the war. 

“ My diocese,” wrote Bishop Spalding, “ is cut in twain 
by this unhappy war, and I must attend to souls without 
entering into the angry political discussion.” 

He did all that lay in his power to provide for the spirit¬ 
ual wants, and, in a measure, the bodily comfort, of the 
soldiers, without stopping to enquire on which side they 
were fighting. To General Anderson, the Federal officer in 
command of his department, he offered the services of the 
Sisters of Charity, to nurse gratuitously the sick and 
wounded. The offer was accepted, and the Sisters were 
soon placed in charge of most of the hospitals. In those 
of Louisville alone, there were at one time over four thou¬ 
sand sick and wounded soldiers. 

What our noble Sisters did around those beds of agony 
to alleviate human suffering has not been written. Their 
deeds belong to God’s history, and when the final reckoning 
is made they, perhaps, may weigh more than victories won 
or battles lost. In the hospitals of Louisville they baptized 
over six hundred men, who, when the world was fading 
from sight, sought the light .of heaven. These Sisters of 
Nazareth also ministered in the hospitals at Paducah, and 
possibly in other places in Kentucky. In January, 1862, it 
was rumored that the Nazareth Convent was to be taken 
possession of by the soldiers, which would have left many 
of the Sisters without a home. Bishop Spalding, upon hear¬ 
ing the report, at once wrote to General Wood, of the-Con- 
federate army, to beg him not to allow the Sisters to be dis¬ 
turbed ; and in reply General Wood called himself at Naza¬ 
reth, to assure the mother-superioress of his protection. He 
behaved, said Bishop Spalding, like a Kentucky gentleman. 
“ I have endeavored,” he wrote in his journal, “ to do my 


The Civil War and the Church. 


247 


duty towards the poor soldiers without regard to the excit¬ 
ing political issues.” On the 6th of February he made the 
following entry: ‘‘Sister Catharine died at the hospital 
from fever, contracted in nursing the sick soldiers. She fol¬ 
lows to heaven her good sister, Mary Lucy, who died a few 
weeks ago, at Paducah, a martyr to charity.” 

In January, 1862, Bishop Spalding went, with Archbishop 
Purcell, to visit the camp on Green River. They remained 
here several days, preaching, hearing confessions, and giving 
confirmation. “ Much good,” he writes in his journal, “ was 
accomplished. May God arrest this unhappy war. Dona 
nobis pacem." 

February 13 : “ The Rev. Joseph Haseltine died suddenly 
about four o’clock this morning, in the seventy-fourth year 
of his life. He had risen somewhat earlier than usual, and, 
when found, he was on his knees, his right hand raised to 
his forehead, as if in the act of making the sign of the cross.” 

Father Haseltine was born in Concord, New Hampshire, 
and was brought up according to the strictest sect of the 
Puritans. When about twenty-five years old, he went to 
live in Montreal, where contact with Catholics led him to 
examine into the doctrines of the church. He was soon 
convinced that it is the only true church, and on Christmas 
Day, 1818, he made his solemn profession of faith in the 
parish church of the Sulpicians, in Montreal. Desiring to 
devote his life exclusively to the service of God, he was 
advised by the Sulpicians to apply to Bishop Flaget, at 
Bardstown. For sixteen years he remained in St. Joseph’s 
College, fulfilling the duties of agent and chief disciplina¬ 
rian ; and, after this long probation, was ordained priest by 
Bishop David, in 1835. He was soon appointed, at the 
suggestion of Bishop David, Ecclesiastical Superior of the 
Nazareth Sisterhood, which office he continued to hold to 
the day of his death. He was remarkable for his scrupulous 


248 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


exactness and regularity in the performance of every duty. 
He rose punctually at four o’clock, and devoted two hours 
to prayer, meditation, and the recitation of the divine office 
before celebrating Mass, which he invariably began at the 
first stroke of the community bell. Sickness and the infir¬ 
mities of age had but sweetened and mellowed in him a 
disposition naturally gentle. 

He was a worthy member of the noble band of early Ken¬ 
tucky priests; and the memory of his peaceful and beau¬ 
tiful life is treasured up in the hearts of those for whom he 
labored so long and so faithfully. The little of this world’s 
goods that belonged to him he left to the orphans. 

In March, 1862, a bill was presented to the Legislature of 
Kentucky, requiring clergymen to take a test-oath, as a pre¬ 
liminary condition to their being allowed to perform the 
ceremony of marriage. In a letter to the Governor, Bishop 
Spalding protested against this bill, as an infringement upon 
the rights of the church. The assistance of the priest at the 
marriage contract is, he said, in the eyes of the church, a 
purely religious act, and since under the Constitution there 
is no union of church and state, the state has no right to 
impose conditions upon the performance of spiritual func¬ 
tions. 

Taking this as a precedent, the Legislature might demand 
a test-oath as a condition to the performance of any reli¬ 
gious office whatever, which is subversive of all freedom 
of conscience, and directly opposed to the principles upon 
which our government is based. 

This bill, which passed through both Houses of the Legis¬ 
lature, was prevented from becoming a law, during that ses¬ 
sion at least, by the veto of Governor Magoffin, who, it 
seems, approved of the views advanced by Bishop Spalding 
in his letter of exceptions. 

The feeling in favor of the bill, however, was so strong, 


The Civil War and the Church. 


249 


that in the following year it was made a law of the State, 
and Bishop Spalding himself took the oath, under the fol¬ 
lowing protest: 

“ In compliance with the act of the last Legislature of 
Kentucky, I, as a law-abiding citizen, take the following 
oath, deeming it my duty, however, to protest against the 
same as a precedent, chiefly on the ground, among other 
reasons, that it requires a civil act as an essential prelimi¬ 
nary to the performance of a spiritual office—marriage being 
regarded by the Catholic Church and by all the old churches, 
embracing nearly five-sixths of Christendom, as a sacrament, 
and consequently as belonging to the spiritual order, and 
therefore, according to the spirit of our Constitution, not 
subject, for its performance by a Christian minister, to merely 
civil laws.” 

In August, 1862, the clergy entered into retreat at St. 
Joseph’s College, at the close of which the third and last 
synod of the diocese of Louisville was held. In synod, 
Bishop Spalding granted full liberty of discussion, and lis¬ 
tened with patience to the suggestions of those who had 
anything to say, it being his desire that his priests should 
take part in framing the laws by which they were to be 
governed. Judices causarum were appointed, who, in the 
presence of the Bishop, took an oath to discharge faithfully 
the duties of their office ; and before them, whoever thought 
himself wrongly censured or unjustly treated had the right 
to bring his case. 

Scarcely was the synod ended, when General Bragg, at the 
head of a large army, entered Kentucky, and marched with¬ 
out opposition to within forty miles of Louisville, where the 
Federal troops were not at all prepared to meet him. The 
wildest excitement prevailed in the city. General Nelson, 
who was in command, ordered the women and children to 
be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, as the arrival of the 


250 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Confederate army was hourly expected. Indeed, it was 
reported that Bragg had defeated Buell, and was already in 
sight of Louisville. Men, who had ascended the towers of 
the churches, announced that they could see the dust and 
hear the din of the approaching army. To add to the gene¬ 
ral terror, Nelson, it was said, intended to burn the city in 
case he should be forced to abandon it. Thousands crossed 
the Ohio to seek refuge in Indiana, where some died from 
exposure. 

On the day when the panic was greatest, Bishop Spalding 
wrote in his journal: “ God knows what is best for his own 
glory, and, after chastising us for our manifold sins, he will 
have mercy and spare us. For myself, I am resolved, with 
his holy grace, to live and die with my children. I shall 
not leave my post, nor the sanctuary which I love. There 
my bones may be laid in the tomb prepared for me by the 
side of my saintly predecessor. This is my last will and testa¬ 
ment, not knowing what to-morrow may bring forth. God 
help me and my people; may our sweet Mother in heaven 
smile upon and protect us in this hour of direst need.” 

September 29, he adds : 

“ This morning General Nelson was shot in the Galt 
House. Alas! the poor soul of the fallen.” 

During this time of tribulation, Bishop Spalding had 
novenas for the peace and safety of the country offered up 
in all the churches and religious communities of the diocese. 
“ Christ will hear us,’’ he writes, “ and his Mother will be 
our Mother in this day of our greatest woe. I have the 
fullest confidence in her, my own sweet Mother in heaven.” 
To add to Bishop Spalding’s sorrows, the Jesuits wished, at 
this time, to give up St. Joseph’s College, and to leave the 
diocese. The college had been closed, and affairs were so 
unsettled that they preferred to go where they could do 
greater good. The Bishop, however, could not consent to 


The Civil War and the Church. 


251 


lose them, and he therefore strenuously opposed them in 
their desire to leave Kentucky. 

A lengthy correspondence between himself and the Visi¬ 
tor of the order took place on the subject, the result of 
which was, that the Jesuits agreed to remain until the 
close of the war, provided the Bishop should consent to 
allow them to withdraw then, in case they should be unable 
longer to carry on the college. 

To this Bishop Spalding gave his assent, upon condition 
that the question should be left to the final decision of the 
Metropolitan of Cincinnati or of St. Louis, to both of whom 
he submitted copies of the correspondence. The matter 
rested here, and Bishop Spalding was spared the grief of 
seeing the Jesuits leave Kentucky, so long as he remained 
Bishop of Louisville. 

July 8, 1863, he makes the following entry in his journal : 
“ The greatest, the best, and the most learned of our prelates 
was found dead in his bed this morning. The venerable 
Dr. Kenrick is no more in this world, but is doubtless in 
heaven praying for us.” 

Little more than a year before, Archbishop Kenrick had 
written the following note to Bishop Spalding, which 
almost seems prophetic of his own death: 

“ I thank you for communicating the intelligence of the 
death of good Mr. Haseltine, who, I trust, was well pre¬ 
pared to meet his Master. Father Nicholas Steinbacher, 
S.J., the German translator of my Primacy , died still more 
suddenly, a few days ago, at Boston. He was found dead 
in his bed. He was a priest of learning and zeal. We 
know not the day or the hour. Father Steinbacher was of 
my age.” 

The suffering and distress caused by the war, which 
seemed to grow more bloody with time, which brought no 
hope of peace, threw a gloom over Bishop Spalding’s 


252 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


thoughts. “ The future of our church, as of our country,” 
he wrote, “ is very uncertain. Everything looks dark. But 
the church will stand, however persecuted. Deus Provi - 
debitP 

July 17.—“ I went to Indianapolis, to lecture to a meet¬ 
ing, over which the mayor presided, with a view to estab¬ 
lish a house of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in that 
city. Several speeches by Protestant gentlemen, confirma¬ 
tory of my remarks, and various offers of contributions, 
were made.” 

Two days later, he preached at the dedication of the new 
church in Logansport, Indiana, and in the evening he lec¬ 
tured to a large audience, many of whom were Protestants. 
He thence proceeded to Buffalo, where he preached twice. 
Of Bishop Timon he writes : “ How I admired his zeal and 
his works. Et omnia qiKZcunque faciet, prosperabunturS 
In August, he lectured in the cathedral of Cincinnati, 
before a convention for establishing a normal school. In 
the same month, he preached at the consecration of the 
cathedral of Buffalo, and thence went to Canada to deliver 
lectures in Hamilton and Toronto. Returning home, he 
made arrangements to have missions given, during the fall, 
in all the principal country congregations of his diocese. 
These missions, which were preached by two bands of 
Jesuit Fathers, reawakened the faith and zeal of the Catho¬ 
lic populations, and also led to the conversion of a great 
many Protestants. 

During the fall and winter of 1863, Bishop Spalding pre¬ 
pared for the press and published the Eight Days Retreat of 
Father David, who had been his own spiritual director. “ I 
could have wished,” he says, with a modesty which was not 
assumed, “ that some one more skilled in the spiritual life 
had undertaken to edit this work. But, having failed in my 
efforts to induce some member of the Society of Jesus to 


State of the Diocese of Louisville . 253 

perform the task, I decided to do the best I could under the 
circumstances; and for this purpose, I drew on my notes of 
retreats which were preached to the students of the Propa¬ 
ganda College in Rome, about thirty years ago, by some of 
the most eminent disciples of St. Ignatius, including the 
General of the order.” 

Of the twenty-four meditations which make up the eight 
days’ retreat, three were wanting in the manuscript of 
Bishop David. These were supplied by Bishop Spalding, 
who also added whatever he thought necessary to make the 
manual more complete. 

The biographical sketch of Bishop David, which serves as 
an introduction to the volume, is full of interest, and is 
another instance of the loving care with which Dr. Spal¬ 
ding has sought to embalm the memory of his early 
teachers. 

This brings us down to 1864, in which year Bishop Spal¬ 
ding was appointed to fill the see of Baltimore, made vacant 
by the death of Archbishop Kenrick. 

In 1848, when he was made Coadjutor of Bishop Flaget, 
the whole Catholic population of the State of Kentucky was 
probably thirty thousand. Sixteen years had since elapsed, 
and within that period Eastern Kentucky had been formed 
into a separate diocese, with the see at Covington. In 1864, 
the Catholic population of the diocese of Louisville alone 
was seventy thousand—more than double that of the entire 
State in 1848. In 1848, there were but forty-three Catholic 
churches in the State; in 1864, there were eighty-five in the 
diocese of Louisville. 

There had been a proportionate increase in the number 
of priests. 

During his administration of sixteen years, five new 
churches had been built in the city of Louisville, includ¬ 
ing the cathedral, which alone was capable of accommo- 


254 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


dating as many people as all the Catholic churches of the 
city at the time of his consecration, whilst two of the old 
churches of the city had been considerably enlarged. 

Parochial schools had been organized, for which Bishop 
Spalding had secured the services of religious Brothers and 
Sisters, who had in their charge nearly as many children as 
frequented the public schools of the city. The diocese was 
well supplied with colleges and academies for the demands 
of higher education. The number of religious women in 
the diocese, belonging to the different communities, and de¬ 
voting their lives to the service of God and their neighbor, 
was not less than six hundred. 

In building churches and in making other improvements, 
no debts not easily manageable had been contracted. 

Outside of what might in the stricter sense be called 
church property, the diocese possessed valuable real estate 
in Louisville and Chicago, which, together with a consider¬ 
able amount of bank and railroad stock, served as a sinking- 
fund, whilst it enabled the Bishop to render assistance in 
starting new churches, and in helping on works of charity. 

Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul had been established, 
which served the double purpose of giving relief to the poor, 
and of holding the men in the congregations where the so¬ 
ciety existed to the practice of their religious duties. In 
the synods and diocesan statutes, Bishop Spalding had done 
all that could be done to introduce law and uniformity of 
practice in the government of the diocese, and the result 
was a union of love and confidence between Bishop, priests, 
and people. 

Slavery and the fanaticism of the Louisville Know-Noth¬ 
ings had, in a great measure, prevented immigration into 
Kentucky, and the increase of the Catholic population was, 
in consequence, less rapid there than in some other parts of 
the Republic; but nowhere were efforts more honest or 


State of the Diocese of Louisville . 255 

earnest made to meet the wants of the growing church of 
this country, than in the diocese of Louisville whilst Bishop 
Spalding was at its head. 

When, therefore, on the nth of June, 1864, he received 
the Papal rescript which elevated him to the first and most 
honorable position in the church of the United States, 
though this mark of confidence from the highest ecclesias¬ 
tical authority, which was also a recognition of his services 
in the cause of religion, could not but be pleasing to a na¬ 
ture keenly sensible to kindness and to the sympathetic 
appreciation of friends, yet the newly conferred dignity was 
associated in Bishop Spalding’s mind with painful rather 
than pleasurable feelings. In Kentucky he was at home, 
surrounded by kindred and by friends, tried and true, who 
had grown up with him, and whose love from long continu¬ 
ance had become almost a necessity; so that, as he him¬ 
self expressed it, his very heart-strings were torn and lace¬ 
rated by this sudden severance. 

His relations with his priests were those of an older with 
younger brothers. They trusted him, and, with but few 
exceptions, loved him. In the religious institutions of the 
diocese, which were “ his joy and his crown,” he was as a 
father in the midst of the most devoted children, whose 
eyes were brighter and whose voices were merrier because 
he was there. Much that he beheld around him to gladden 
his heart he himself had built up. There were no financial 
troubles to embarrass or discourage him. In his brother, 
the Very Rev. Dr. Spalding, who, as the truest of friends, 
had stood by his side during his whole episcopal life, he 
possessed an adviser whose business capacity and practical 
judgment could hardly be surpassed. 

No longer young, and in feeble health, every natural sen¬ 
timent would have inclined him to remain in Kentucky, and 
to walk quietly down the slope of life, surrounded and sup- 


256 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


ported by those to whom he had given all his best years. 
But he had never sought his own ease at the price of duty, 
and though he loved Kentucky and the church of Kentucky, 
he loved the great cause for which Christ suffered and died 
still more, and when his Vicar laid the burden on his shoul¬ 
ders, he braced himself with a brave heart to bear it as be¬ 
came a Christian bishop, saying with his patron, St. Martin 
of Tours, “ Non recuso laboremd 

He had been a bishop too long to be fascinated by the 
glitter of the purple, or to imagine that advancement to a 
higher dignity meant anything else than more labor and 
greater responsibility. He therefore accepted the appoint¬ 
ment to the see of Baltimore in the spirit of the wprds of 
Pius IX. in announcing to him his elevation, “ as the will of 
Providence.” Sequereprovidentiam was his favorite and oft- 
repeated motto. 

One of his last official acts as Bishop of Louisville was to 
assemble his council, that the members, as representing the 
clergy of the diocese, might make known their wishes con¬ 
cerning the choice of his successor. 


CHAPTER XX, 


ARCHBISHOP SPALDING TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS NEW 
CHARGE — SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT FACTS IN THE. 
HISTORY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE. 

NY attempt on the part of the state to interfere 
in the appointment of bishops is irreconcilable- 
with the American theory of government.. 
This question was settled at the time of the- 
establishment of the hierarchy in this country, shortly after 
we became an independent nation. Before the Revolution, 
the Catholics of the British Provinces of North America' 
were, in spiritual matters, under the immediate jurisdic¬ 
tion of the Vicar Apostolic of London. But when we had 
thrown off the authority of Great Britain, the welfare and 
prosperity of the church here demanded that it should have- 
a separate and independent organization. Representations, 
of the necessity of a change in our ecclesiastical status, 
were made to the Pope, who decided upon the appoint¬ 
ment of a Vicar Apostolic for the United States. 

So little, however, in that day, was the spirit of the 
American government understood by even the most intelli¬ 
gent persons, that it was thought necessary first to ask the 
consent of Congress, and to receive from that body sug¬ 
gestions as to the most suitable person for the new office. 
With this view, the Papal Nuncio, at Paris, in 1783, address¬ 
ed a note to Dr. Franklin, who at the time represented 
the government of this country at the Court of France, 
requesting him to bring the subject before the Congress of 
the United States. When the question was submitted 







258 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

to Congress, that body very properly decided that it had 
nothing to say on the subject. 

The precedent thus established of non-interference in 
matters appertaining to the jurisdiction of the church has 
been, almost without exception, adhered to by the Govern¬ 
ment of this country. But when, during the excitement 
of the late civil war, which seemed to threaten our national 
existence, the two most important sees—those of Baltimore 
and New York—became vacant, there seemed for a while to 
be a disposition to meddle with the liberty of action of the 
church in the choice of bishops. The urgency of the times 
had given to the authorities in Washington a power which 
they had never before exercised ; and, as power often gains 
increase of appetite from what it feeds upon, they were 
inclined to stretch their jurisdiction as far as possible, with¬ 
out having any very nice regard for the limits assigned to 
it by the organic law of the land. 

Bishop Spalding, under date of February 7, 1864, makes 
the following entry in his journal: “ There appears to be 
no doubt that the Government has interfered at Rome in 
regard to the appointments to the sees of Baltimore and 
New York.” 

This brief sentence is the only reference which I have 
been able to find among his papers to a subject to which 
he seems not to have given more than a passing thought. 
Whether or not objections were made to him personally, I 
do not know; nor would the knowledge throw any light 
upon his history. 

The see of Baltimore is not only the oldest in the United 
States, but it is also the first in point of dignity. For seve¬ 
ral years after the establishment of the hierarchy, in 1789, 
it was the only diocese in this country; and when, in 1808, 
bishops were given to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
Bardstown, Baltimore was raised to the dignity of an archi- 


Takes Possession of his new Charge . 


259 


episcopal see. By a decree of the Congregation of Propa¬ 
ganda, confirmed by Pius IX. on the 25th of July, 1858, the 
prerogative of place is granted to the see of Baltimore, so 
that in councils, assemblies, and meetings of every kind 
precedency is given to the Archbishop of Baltimore for the 
time being, and the seat of honor above any of the arch¬ 
bishops of these provinces that may be present, without 
regard to the order of promotion or consecration. At the 
time of the appointment of Bishop Carroll, Baltimore was 
not thought of at Rome as his episcopal city ; but Philadel¬ 
phia was considered the most proper place for the first see 
of the country, chiefly no doubt because it was then the 
seat of the American government. But, for reasons which 
are obvious, it was finally determined to locate the seat of 
episcopal authority in the old Maryland colony. “ They 
fixed upon Baltimore,” wrote Dr. Carroll, “ this being the 
principal town of Maryland, and that State being the oldest 
and still the most numerous residence of true religion in 
America.” 

The appointment of Bishop Spalding to fill the see of 
Baltimore, made vacant by the death of Archbishop Ken- 
rick, met with the almost universal approval of the Catholics 
of this country. Many of the bishops and priests expressed 
their great satisfaction with the choice made by the Holy 
Father in terms the most complimentary. “ No sooner had 
Almighty God,’’ wrote Archbishop Odin, “ called to himself 
the great and good Dr. Kenrick, than all eyes were turned 
towards the Bishop of Louisville as the person in every 
way qualified to fill that important see.” Probably no 
one could have been chosen who would have been more 
acceptable either to the clergy or the laity of the Archdio¬ 
cese of Baltimore. His record as Bishop of Louisville gave 
assurance of his administrative ability ; whilst the honorable 
name which he had made for himself by his writings and 


26 o 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


other labors in the cause of the church, inspired the confi¬ 
dent belief that he would be a not unworthy successor of 
Carroll and Kenrick. He came not among the Catholics of 
Maryland as a stranger. They but welcomed home a not 
degenerate son of the Pilgrims of Lord Baltimore. 

“ I have this moment,” wrote Father Coskery, the Admin¬ 
istrator of the diocese, to Archbishop Spalding, “ received a 
letter from Cardinal Barnabo, announcing the fact that you 
have been appointed our archbishop. Be assured, beloved 
Father and Archbishop, that no other appointment could 
have given an equal amount of satisfaction either to the 
clergy or the people of your new charge. We have all long 
loved you, because we have known you either personally or 
by reputation. In receiving you, it will not seem to us 
that we are receiving a stranger, but a long-known and ten¬ 
derly-loved father. With one acclaim of joy, Baltimore will 
greet you her seventh archbishop.” 

Bishop O’Connor, in whose death the American Church 
has lost one of her most gifted and most exemplary sons, 
wrote as follows to Archbishop Spalding: 

“There were rumors of your declining this honor in case 
it were proffered. I cannot believe that you had any such 
intention, though the bare possibility of the thing will, I 
trust, excuse my alluding to it. You have too much wis¬ 
dom not to see that in such affairs the safest course is to 
leave one’s self in the hands of Providence. You know too 
much, I am sure, of what such honors imply, to think them 
worth running from or running after; and, as to any other 
difficulties that I can see, they should certainly yield to the 
voice of Providence, which will be manifested in the ap¬ 
pointment. It may be no harm for an outsider, whose tes¬ 
timony you may consider in such an affair reliable, to give 
his opinion, as I do, that your reception by the people of 
Baltimore will be warm, by the clergy cordial, and that in 



Takes Possessio?i of his new Charge. 


261 


all you will find sincere support. As a disinterested party, 
I was able to form an idea on this subject, and my expres¬ 
sion of it may carry conviction better than that of others 
whose feelings may be considered as enlisted.” 

Archbishop Spalding took possession of his new see on 
the 31st of July, 1864. 

“ I consider it a fortunate circumstance,” said he, in his 
inaugural address, “ that in the Providence of God I am 
enabled to begin my duties in the Province of Baltimore on 
this day, the Festival of St. Ignatius Loyola, the patron of 
the missions of Maryland ”; and, after a discourse, of great 
breadth of view, on St. Ignatius, and the significance of his 
work in the church, he applied the lesson thence to be drawn 
to himself in this new mission which the Vicar of Christ 
had entrusted to him. The weak things of the world are 
chosen of God to confound the strong. Though the instru¬ 
ment be poor, yet in the hands of God it may do wonders. 

“ I may not hope,” he continued, “ to fill the place made 
vacant by the departure to his rest of the venerated Kenrick ; 
but it must be my aim, with the help of God and the Blessed 
Virgin, and encouraged by your prayers, brethren, to emu¬ 
late his bright example, and to follow, if I can, in his foot¬ 
steps. He was my friend ; I knew him welland it is be¬ 
cause I knew him so well, that I feel how difficult it will be 
to fill in your hearts the place which he occupied.” 

There were many traits of resemblance in. the characters 
of Archbishop Kenrick and Archbishop Spalding, though 
the two men were very unlike. Both were gentle and sim¬ 
ple, innocent and good themselves, and unsuspicious of evil 
in others. 

Archbishop Kenrick was reserved. He gave expression 
to his sentiments in a quiet, subdued way, as though the 
outer world were not his home ; and he seemed at once, 
without effort, to sink back into the sanctuary of his inner life. 


262 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Archbishop Spalding, on the contrary, was demonstrative. 
There was a merry ring in his laugh, suggestive of the un¬ 
deceived heart of childhood. He had not the art of con¬ 
cealing anything—he thought aloud. He had, too, a plain, 
blunt way of telling the brutal truth, which sometimes gave 
offence, and which often astonished those who knew best 
his perfect gentleness of heart. Both were remarkable for 
the thoroughness with which their whole nature had been 
absorbed and remoulded by the spirit of religion. Having 
come forth from the same school, their theological opinions 
and views in matters not strictly of faith very generally 
coincided. 

Both of them had found the rare secret of uniting a life of 
great activity and of manifold external duties with that of 
the conscientious student, and were thus able, whilst labor¬ 
ing incessantly to build up the church, to become also the 
guides and directors of Catholic thought, and to enrich the 
literature of the American church with some of its most im¬ 
portant works. Yet Archbishop Spalding was more a man 
of action than Archbishop Kenrick, and consequently less 
really a student. The writings of the one were more popu¬ 
lar, breathed more the spirit of the busy, moving age ; those 
of the other were more learned, partook more of the fixed 
and immobile character of the truth which they were in¬ 
tended to defend and illustrate. Archbishop Spalding pro¬ 
bably knew more of men, and understood better how to 
develop and put to proper use the energies of those whom 
he governed, whilst Archbishop Kenrick was the profounder 
scholar. Both were alike distinguished by their thoroughly 
Catholic instincts, which seemed almost unerringly to 
incline them in thought and action to that which is in most 
perfect accord with the spirit of the church ; and hence they 
both cherished a tender and filial devotion to the Vicar of 
Christ as to the visible centre and fountain-head of Catholic 


Summary of Important Facts . 263 

unity and life. Apart from the importance which at all 
times belongs to the see of Baltimore, special circumstances 
existed when Archbishop Spalding was called to fill it which 
seemed to demand more than ordinary prudence and wisdom 
in the person upon whom this honor was conferred. 

The Civil war was still raging, and no one could foresee its 
end or predict what the final result would be. Maryland, 
like Kentucky, was a border State, which had already been 
occupied by both armies, and might again become the scene 
of great battles. The Catholics, like the other citizens of 
that State, were divided in their political opinions and 
sympathies. 

The death of Archbishop Kenrick had been hastened, as 
some thought, by the frightful calamities which he saw 
around him, and by the fear lest still greater evils should 
come upon his people. 

The District of Columbia, too, formed part of the Arch¬ 
diocese of Baltimore ; and, should any misunderstanding 
arise between the church and the Government in conse¬ 
quence of the troubled and uncertain condition of affairs, it 
would naturally fall to the Archbishop to represent the eccle¬ 
siastical authority. 

The manner in which Bishop Spalding had met the diffi¬ 
culties of his position, as Bishop of Louisville, was well 
known to the Court of Rome ; and his appointment to the 
see of Baltimore, in view of this fact, cannot but be con¬ 
sidered as a most valuable endorsement of the wisdom and 
prudence of his conduct. In other respects, the administra¬ 
tion of the diocese of Baltimore presented but little diffi¬ 
culty compared with that which existed in newer and less 
perfectly organized portions of the church. 

A brief statement of what had already been done will 
serve to throw light upon the task which Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding had to perform. 


264 Life of Archbishop Spalding, 

The history of the Catholic Church within the present 
territory of the United States reaches back to a time when 
Protestantism had not yet come into existence. The story 
of the heroic and saintly lives of the Catholic missionaries 
who bore the light of faith to the Indians of North America 
from 1512, when Florida was discovered, down to 1776, when 
we became an independent people, and even to a more re¬ 
cent date, is fit to be written on the brightest pages of the 
church’s annals. In California, in Texas, in Florida, in the 
countries that lie around the great lakes of the Northwest, 
in New York, in Maine, those apostolic men labored with a 
zeal, an earnestness, often with a success, that recall the first 
ages of the church. 

But with the extinction of the aboriginal tribes, the results 
of their work, for the most part, disappeared ; and their 
sufferings and their deeds may be hardly said to form part 
of the history of the present church of the United States. 
From the landing of Lord Baltimore, in 1634, to the end of 
the war of Independence, the church scarcely had a recog¬ 
nized existence in the British Colonies, and made little pro¬ 
gress. 

Outside of Maryland there were no Catholics, if we 
except a few who were scattered through Pennsylvania, 
where they received a kind of toleration of contempt. But 
with liberty of conscience came the signs of awakening 
life. 

Dr. Carroll, in 1788, the year before his consecration as 
Bishop of Baltimore, laid the foundation of Georgetown 
College, which was opened in 1791, when Washington City 
had not yet been laid out. In the same year (1791), M. 
Nagot founded the Theological Seminary in Baltimore. 
Down to 1790, there was not a community of religious 
women in the United States. In that year, Father Charles 
Neale, the brother of the future Archbishop, brought over 


Summary of Important Facts. 265 

from Antwerp four Carmelite nuns, three of whom were 
Americans, the fourth being an English lady. A house was 
purchased for them near Port Tobacco, on the Potomac, 
where they established the first convent of women in this 
country.* 

In 1792, a few members of the order of Poor Clares, who 
had been driven from France by the Revolution, settled in 
Georgetown; but they sold their convent to Bishop Neale 
in 1805, and returned to their native land. In the house 
which he had bought from the Poor Clares Bishop Neale 
placed the “ Pious Ladies/' as they were called, who, with¬ 
out taking special vows or wearing a distinctive habit, led 
the lives of religious, until they finally adopted the rule of 
the order of the Visitation. This was the beginning of the 
Georgetown Convent, which has since rendered such great 
services to religion. In May, 1805, Bishop Carroll, having 
previously obtained permission from the General of the 
order, reorganized the Society of Jesus in the United 
States. Six fathers, who had been members of the society 
before its suppression, were readmitted, and others soon 
arrived from Europe. They at once took charge of the 
college at Georgetown, which, under their management, 
soon rose to a high rank among the institutions of learning 
in the United States. 

In 1808, the Rev. John Dubois, afterwards Bishop of 
New York, opened a college near Emmitsburg, Maryland, 
to which he gave the name of Mount St. Mary’s. The 
year following, Mother Seton founded the first house of the 
Sisters of Charity in this country, at a short distance from 
Father Dubois’ seminary. 

The influence of these institutions, though by no means 


* An Ursuline Convent was founded in 1727 in New Orleans, which at 
that time belonged to France. 


266 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


confined to Maryland, has been more especially felt in the 
Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

The Sulpicians opened a college in Baltimore in 1799, 
which prospered for many years, but was finally closed in 
1850. Its place was supplied by Loyola College, estab¬ 
lished by the Jesuits in 1852. 

The Brothers of the Christian Schools came to Baltimore 
in 1846, at the invitation of Archbishop Eccleston, and 
opened a novitiate and school in Calvert Hall, which had 
been ceded to them for this purpose by the trustees of the 
cathedral. In the same year, the Brothers of St. Patrick 
arrived, and took charge of the male department of the 
school attached to St. Patrick’s Church. Archbishop Eccles¬ 
ton succeeded also in securing the services of the Redemp- 
torists and Lazarists. The former devoted themselves more 
particularly to the German Catholic population of Balti¬ 
more, which was fast becoming an important element of 
the church’s strength in that city. The zeal which they 
manifested in the cause of Catholic education was espe¬ 
cially commendable. Another event connected with Arch¬ 
bishop Eccleston’s administration was the founding of St. 
Charles’ College, near Ellicott’s Mills. This institution, for 
which the church is indebted to the munificence of Charles 
Carroll, is a preparatory seminary, in which boys who give 
evidence of a vocation to the priesthood are fitted for the 
study of theology. The college was opened in 1848, and 
was placed in charge of the Fathers of St. Sulpice. Benevo¬ 
lent institutions for the relief of the various forms of human 
suffering had been called into existence from time to time 
by the six venerable men who had successively occupied the 
archiepiscopal chair of Baltimore. The number of churches 
and of priests was large, though insufficient for the rapidly 
growing Catholic population. The cathedral, the corner¬ 
stone of which was laid by Archbishop Carroll in 1806, was 


Summary of Important Facts . 267 

solemnly dedicated in 1821. Although in the rapid progress 
of the age it has long since ceased to hold the first rank 
among our churches in architectural beauty, yet there is 
none which can compare with it in the number and sacred¬ 
ness of its historical associations, which belong to the entire 
American church, and which of themselves will be sufficient 
to preserve it from desecration should the erection of a 
new cathedral become necessary. 

Archbishop Spalding seems to have won the confidence 
and even the affection of the Catholics of Maryland, from 
his first appearance among them. Any regrets he may have 
felt in leaving Kentucky he kept to himself, as not concern¬ 
ing others, and he now had no thought but to identify him¬ 
self with the people among whom God’s Providence had 
placed him. 

It did not take any one long to get acquainted with Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding. His character was perfectly transparent. 
His thoughts and aims were above reproach, and he spoke 
them out with entire frankness. He was neither non-com¬ 
mittal nor self-absorbed. In his new position, he did not in 
the least change his mode of life, but remained as simple and 
unpretending as the poorest priest in his diocese. If people 
found fault with him, it was because he was, they thought, 
too plain, and did not attach sufficient importance to cere¬ 
mony—the pomp and circumstance of office. 

He was always ready to see any one who called upon him ; 
prepared to give advice, to speak words of consolation, to 
talk of business ; or, if the occasion required it, to chat 
pleasantly about the most indifferent things. He himself 
took the first opportunity to visit his priests and his people, 
and in a very short time he was quite at home in Balti¬ 
more. He made but few changes in the beginning, desiring 
first to become familiar with the customs and usages of 
the diocese, as well as with the sentiments and views of his 


268 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


priests, which he wished, as far as possible, to respect. He 
began by directing his attention to the poor and the chil¬ 
dren of his charge. 

He made appeals in behalf of the various orphan asylums, 
and established in Baltimore the Conferences of St. Vincent 
de Paul, whose special mission is to provide for the spiritual 
and temporal wants of the poor. He visited the various 
schools, and sought to awaken a more lively interest in the 
cause of Catholic education. 


CHAPTER XXI. 


ARCHBISHOP SPALDING’S FIRST WORKS IN TPIE DIOCESE 
OF BALTIMORE—THE SYLLABUS—THE SIXTH SYNOD OF 
BALTIMORE—CORRESPONDENCE ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 

NE of the first events which marked Archbishop 
Spalding’s administration was the founding of 
a convent of the Good Shepherd, in Baltimore, 
by sisters from the mother-house in Louisville, 
a site having been given for the purpose by Mrs. Emily 
McTavish. 

When he had got rid of the press of more urgent business, 
he entered upon the visitation of his diocese, during which 
he administered confirmation in one hundred and twelve 
places to about eight thousand persons, eight hundred and 
fifty of whom were converts. 

In connection with this visitation, and also to urge the 
faithful to gain the indulgence of the fifth Jubilee pro¬ 
claimed by Pius IX., missions were preached to the prin¬ 
cipal congregations of the diocese. In the cathedral, over 
six thousand persons approached the sacraments. During 
the first year of his administration, he finished and decorated 
the cathedral, which he had found incomplete. A gift of 
fifteen thousand dollars from one of the most generous 
Catholic gentlemen of Baltimore enabled him to enlarge the 
archiepiscopal residence. This was very agreeable to him, 
as he desired to be able to offer hospitality to his priests 
when they visited the city. This had been his custom in 
Louisville, and he desired to keep up the Scriptural injunc¬ 
tion in Baltimore. 




270 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


Besides being proper in itself, it encouraged, he thought, 
mutual confidence and cordiality. It gave him real plea¬ 
sure, too, to entertain his priests, and he was never better 
pleased than when surrounded by them. His soul was in 
the work which they were doing, and their presence gave 
him an opportunity of talking of that of which his heart 
was full. His government was wholly free from anything 
like espionage. He would have been as unfit for this as he 
was incapable of it. 

When a charge worthy of notice was made against a 
priest, Archbishop Spalding never failed to make it known 
to him; not that he believed him guilty, but that he might 
give him an opportunity of freeing himself from unjust sus¬ 
picion. When the proof of guilt was too strong to admit 
of doubt, he was firm in the course which, after a thorough 
investigation of the case, he thought proper to pursue—above 
all, when there was danger to souls. Sains popidi suprema 
lex was a rule of conduct from which he never knowingly 
swerved. Charity must be shown to the lambs of the flock, 
he used to say, not to the wolves. He felt that he could 
show his priests no greater kindness than by doing all that 
lay in his power to preserve the dignity and purity of the 
clerical body free from attaint. 

“ I did not," he wrote to a clergyman, “ attach any impor¬ 
tance to the charges made against you, of whom, from all 
that I knew, I had a good opinion. Still, I thought it due 
to yourself that you should be informed of them. Your 
explanation is satisfactory, and I bid you God-speed in your 
labors, which you should continue for the glory of God.” 

The knowledge of the various parishes and missions of the 
diocese, which Archbishop Spalding had gained through the 
visitation, convinced him that the interests of religion de¬ 
manded that a greater number of priests should be employed 
in the work of the ministry. 


First Works in the Diocese of Baltimore. 271 

He therefore sought to make arrangements to get mis¬ 
sionaries from All-Hallows, near Dublin ; and, with the same 
view, he became, as Archbishop of Baltimore, a patron of the 
American College at Louvain, by paying a thousand dollars. 

From these sources, as well as from his own seminary, he 
was soon able to get priests for the more pressing demands 
of his diocese. During hi.s first visitation, he took measures 
to have not less than twenty new churches built, nearly all 
of which were to be ready for service within a year. He 
preached in all the churches which he visited, and frequently 
lectured. He was not content with hurrying through the 
diocese merely to give confirmation, but sought to become 
acquainted with the people, that he might be able to form 
a better judgment concerning their spiritual wants. He 
listened with interest to anything they might propose, and 
showed himself anxious to co-operate with them in what¬ 
ever regarded the good of their souls. 

His judgment in practical affairs was excellent. Though 
he cared as little for money as any man, yet no one knew its 
value better than he. He had the faculty of perceiving 
almost at once what were the resources of a congregation, 
and he consequently understood what enterprises were to be 
pushed forward, and what were to be discouraged. 

It is the easiest thing in the world, he used to say, in 
reference to church enterprises, to contract debts, and the 
hardest to pay them. 

He was also opposed to accepting pious donations clogged 
with conditions, which, he said, often defeat the end of the 
donors, and render the gift valueless. 

Though prudent, he was never timid in undertaking what 
his mature judgment led him to believe serviceable to the 
cause of religion. 

Like all men who work, he had great faith in the power of 
effort, and was not, therefore, easily frightened by difficulties. 


272 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


In November, 1864, Archbishop Spalding preached at 
the dedication of the magnificent cathedral of Philadelphia, 
which had been begun by Bishop Kenrick, continued by 
Bishop Neuman, and finally completed by Bishop Wood. 
Whenever he could find respite from his arduous labors, he 
was still willing to lecture for objects of benevolence. 

February 9, 1865, he wrote: “I have just finished my 
Pastoral on the Jubilee. I attempt to defend the Pontiff 
and the Encyclical from the American stand-point. In view 
of the howl of indignation which has gone forth from Eng¬ 
land and America, I thought a vindication opportune.” 

The Pastoral to which Archbishop Spalding refers in the 
words just quoted attracted considerable attention from 
both the religious and the secular press of the country. 
The first edition, in pamphlet form, was almost imme¬ 
diately taken up. 

“ Always learned and eloquent,” wrote a leading Catholic 
editor, “ Archbishop Spalding seems to us never so impres¬ 
sive in other writings as in his Pastorals. It is there we 
find the fervor and power of the ancient doctors and fathers 
of the church, united with a keen appreciation of the needs 
of these last days.” 

The outcry was that the Pope had condemned all.the 
most sacred principles of our Government. To this 
Archbishop Spalding replied that “to stretch the words 
of the Pontiff, evidently intended for the stand-point of 
European radicals and infidels, so as to make them include 
the state of things established in this country by our Con¬ 
stitution in regard to liberty of conscience, of worship, and 
of the press, were manifestly unfair and unjust. Divided 
as we were in religious sentiment from the very origin of 
our Government, our fathers acted most prudently and 
wisely in adopting, as an amendment to the Constitution, 
the organic article that 1 Congress shall make no law 


The Syllabus. 


273 

respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof.’ In adopting this amendment, they 
certainly did not intend, like the European radical disciples 
of Tom Paine and the French Revolution, to pronounce all 
religions, whether true or false, equal before God, but only to 
declare them equal before the law; or rather, simply to lay 
down the sound and equitable principle that the civil govern¬ 
ment, adhering strictly to its own appropriate sphere of polit¬ 
ical duty, pledged itself not to interfere with religious matters,., 
which it rightly viewed as entirely without the bounds of 
its competency. The founders of our Government were,, 
thank God ! neither latitudinarians nor infidels ; they were- 
earnest, honest men ; and, however much some of them 
may have been personally lukewarm in the matter of reli¬ 
gion, or may have differed in religious opinions, they still 
professed to believe in Christ and his revelation ; and they 
exhibited a commendable respect for religious observances.* 

* “ In recent times,” these are the words of one of the most thoughtful 
writers of this century, “ European democracy has signalized itself lament¬ 
ably by its attacks upon religion—a circumstance which, far from favoring 
its cause, has very seriously injured it. We can, indeed, form an idea of a 
government more or less free when society is virtuous, moral, and religious ; 
but not when these conditions are wanting. In the latter case, the only 
form of government that is possible is despotism, the rule of force ; for force 
alone can govern men who are without conscience and without God. If we 
consider attentively the points of difference between the Revolution of the 
United States and that of France, we shall find one of the principal to be 
this—that the American Revolution was essentially democratic; that of 
France essentially impious. In the manifestoes by which the former 
was inaugurated, the name of God, of Providence, is everywhere seen; 
the men engaged in the perilous enterprise of shaking off the yoke 
of Great Britain, far from blaspheming the Almighty, invoke his assist¬ 
ance, convinced that the cause of independence was the cause of rea¬ 
son and justice. The French began by deifying the leaders of irreligion, 
overthrowing altars, watering with the blood of priests the temples, the 
streets, and the scaffolds. The only emblem of revolution recognized by 
the people is atheism hand in hand with liberty. This folly has borne its. 


274 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

All other matters contained in the Encyclical, as well as the 
long catalogue of eighty propositions condemned in its 
Appendix or Syllabus, are to be judged of by the same 
standard. These propositions are condemned in the sense 
of those who uttered and maintained them, and in no other. 
To be fair in our interpretation, we must never lose sight of the 
lofty stand-point of the Pontiff, who steps forth as the cham¬ 
pion of law and order against anarchy and revolution, and of 
revealed religion against more or less openly avowed infi¬ 
delity. Nor should we forget the stand-point of those whose 
errors he condemns, who openly or covertly assail all 
revealed religion, and seek to sap the very foundations of 
all well-ordered society; who threaten to bring back the 
untold horrors of the French Revolution, and to make the 
streets and the highways run with the blood of the best and 
noblest citizens. Their covert attacks on religion and 
society are, perhaps, even more formidable than their open 
assaults. Against the latter the virtuous are really guarded 
and armed ; against the former, which often bear the ap¬ 
pearance of good, and whose evil drift is not so easily per¬ 
ceived, we are not so well prepared, and the poison of error 
is often insidiously instilled into the hearts of the well 
disposed but simple-minded before they even think of 
guarding against the danger.’’ 

I have found the following reference to the doctrines of 
the Syllabus in one of Archbishop Spalding’s letters : 

“ Whilst I adhere ex corde to the principles enunciated in 
the Syllabus, I yet look upon them in concreto et in subjecta 
materia ; not generalizing what is special, and not stretching 

fruits; it communicated its fatal contagion to other revolutions in recent 
times ; the new order of things has been inaugurated with sacrilegious 
crimes ; and the proclamation of the rights of man began by the profana¬ 
tion of the temples of Him from whom all rights emanate.”—Balmes’ 
Protestantism and Catholicity, p. 389. 


The Sixth Synod of Baltimore . 


275 


the meaning of the propositions beyond that inferable from 
the circumstances to which they were applied. Freedom of 
worship is condemned when it implies a right not given by 
Christ, and insists on the right of introducing false religion 
into a country where it does not exist. It is not only not 
censurable, but commendable, and the only thing practicable 
in countries like ours. I reason in a similar manner concern¬ 
ing the liberty of the press, and progress, in the American 
and Anglo-Saxon, not in the liberal European, sense. There 
is a wide distinction, and any attempt to confound things 
so far apart would be wrong and nugatory, putting us in a 
false position—in an untenable one, in fact. I should say 
the same with regard to church and state. The principle is 
right enough ; but its application must vary with the ever- 
changing conditions of human society.” 

At the close of the retreat, which he himself preached to 
his priests in May, 1865, Archbishop Spalding held a dio¬ 
cesan synod—the sixth of Baltimore. In this synod, he 
urged the pastors to use greater efforts to foster vocations 
to the priesthood. It was his desire that each of them 
should select two boys among the children of his parish to 
be sent to the preparatory seminary of St. Charles. “ We 
trust,” he said, in the Pastoral which he published on this 
occasion, “ that faith will be awakened and stimulated to more 
active exertions, and that Catholic parents will deem it the 
greatest possible honor and happiness for their families to 
have one or more of their sons become priests of God. It 
was so in the early Catholic history of Maryland. Why 
should it not be so now? Has the spirit of the Neales and 
the Fenwicks become extinct in the bosoms of their de¬ 
scendants ? Should not the uncertainty and vicissitudes of 
the times tend to convince all reflecting minds blessed with 
Catholic faith of the utter instability of human affairs, and 
of the wisdom of choosing the better part ? Or is it better 


276 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


for the Christian father and mother to train up their sons to 
become the votaries and servants of an uncertain and treach¬ 
erous world than to rear them up with a taste and desire 
for the sublime ministry of God’s altar? At the hour of 
death, will the wealthy Catholic parent be more comforted 
by the'reflection that he leaves his son heir to his riches— 
perhaps ungratefully to squander them—or by the thought 
that he leaves one behind him who will often do what St. 
Monica on her death-bed begged her dear son, St. Augus¬ 
tine, to do—to remember her at the holy altar?” 

A decree was passed in this synod, requiring that children 
who have not made their first communion shall be heard in 
confession four times a year during the Quatuor Tempora. 
To encourage greater devotion to the saints, Archbishop 
Spalding recommended that the festival of the patronal or 
titular saint of each church should be celebrated with due 
solemnity. 

“ Whom God has so honored,” he says, in his synodical 
address, “ surely we may honor; whom he has crowned in 
heaven, we may surely invoke on earth. While the holy 
example of the saints is a powerful stimulant to our own 
feeble efforts, the brilliancy of their crowns in heaven fills us 
with admiration, and inspires us with emulation; and their 
prayers, poured out to God near his throne in our behalf, 
will greatly aid us in passing through the perils of this 
earthly pilgrimage, and in reaching at length the blessed 
home which they have already entered, and where they are 
now happy with bliss unutterable. The devout observance 
of their festivals will tend to keep alive in our hearts these 
salutary feelings, while it will, moreover, cause us to approxi¬ 
mate to the general usage of the church in Catholic coun¬ 
tries.” 

The number of days on which the benediction of the 
Blessed Sacrament was permitted to be given in the diocese 


The Sixth Synod of Baltimore. 277 

was increased, that greater opportunity of cultivating devo¬ 
tion to our divine Saviour, in the chief mystery of his love, 
might be offered to the faithful. 

Catholics were urged to become members of the Associa¬ 
tion for the Propagation of the Faith, and of the kindred 
one, the Society of the Holy Childhood. “ Both these 
associations,” said the Archbishop, “ will commend them¬ 
selves to every Catholic heart; and-while millions are annu¬ 
ally contributed by Protestants in the zealous but wholly 
ineffectual attempt to convert the heathen, surely Catholics, 
whose missionaries do succeed, to a marvellous extent, in 
this blessed work, will not remain behind in their zeal for 
the salvation of souls and the consequent generosity of 
their contributions.” 

A statute of this synod required pastors to explain to the 
people from the pulpit, at least once a year, the nature and 
wisdom of the ecclesiastical laws relative to marriage. In 
his address, the Archbishop referred to the subject of the 
intermarriage of Catholics and Protestants. “ Mixed mar¬ 
riages,” he said, “ are commonly attended with many incon¬ 
veniences and difficulties ; sometimes with the very worst 
results to the piety and faith of the Catholic party. The 
children of such alliances are very frequently reared up with¬ 
out suitable religious instruction, and they often become 
indifferentists or practical infidels. It is usually difficult 
enough, particularly in this country, for parents, when both 
are Catholics, to guard their children against the influence 
of the pernicious examples by which they are surrounded, 
and to bring them up as practical and devout members of 
the church. The difficulty is increased tenfold when one 
of the parents is not blessed with Catholic faith, and is 
either an indifferentist or an errorist in religion. The exam¬ 
ple of such a parent will go very far towards counteracting 
all the efforts and instructions of the one who is Catholic. 


278 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


We repeat it, the church is very wise in warning her chil¬ 
dren against the danger of such marriages ; and it is the 
duty of Catholic parents to guard their children against 
associations which might entangle them in alliances so 
fraught with evil to their souls, as it is the duty of pastors 
to remind parents and children of their obligations in this 
matter.” In conformity with the rubrics and the general 
usage of the church, the statutes of this synod require that 
in future all candidates for confirmation shall be provided 
with sponsors, who must be of the same sex as those whom 
they present for the reception of the sacrament. 

The dqty of generously contributing to the support of the 
Holy Father is also insisted upon. “ He labors day and 
night, with his numerous staff of counsellors and officers, 
for the spiritual benefit of all Christendom ; and it is but 
fair and equitable that all Christendom should generously 
co-operate in supporting a necessarily expensive adminis¬ 
tration, conducted in the spiritual interests of all.” 

“ Finally,” continues Archbishop Spalding, in the address 
from which I have already quoted, “ in view of the great 
number of our children of both sexes who are lost to the 
church, we have recommended, for general adoption in our 
congregations, societies of pious ladies, like that lately 
established in the cathedral parish under the name of the 
‘ Association of St. Joseph.’ This society has for its object 
the care of destitute girls whose faith is endangered because 
their religious instruction has been neglected. These zeal¬ 
ous ladies seek out these poor children, assemble them 
weekly, and devote several hours to teaching them sewing 
and the catechism. Within a few weeks, the number of 
such scholars in the cathedral parish has swelled from 
twenty to one hundred.” 

Archbishop Spalding’s fondness for historical studies, and 
his great desire to disseminate correct views on the history 


The Sixth Synod of Baltimore, 279 

of the church, led him, a short time after his promotion to 
the see of Baltimore, to become responsible for the English 
translation of Darras’ Church History , for which he wrote a 
lengthy introduction. This work gave him not a little 
trouble. For a time he did the proof-reading himself; but 
he soon found that this was incompatible with the discharge 
of the constantly increasing duties of his office. Then, when 
only a few chapters of the first volume had been done into 
English, the person who had undertaken the translation 
was unable to proceed with the work, and Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding was forced to look out for some equally competent 
person to whom he might entrust the task. Fortunately, a 
member of the Society of Jesus, of the Maryland Province, 
w r as found, who was both able and willing to complete the 
translation. 

Bishop Luers, of Fort Wayne, suggested that a chapter 
on the history of the church in the United States should be 
added. This chapter, in the form of an appendix to the 
fourth volume, was written by the Rev. Dr. White, of 
Washington City. The entire work, which is a valuable 
addition to our Catholic literature, was completed in 1866. 

Archbishop Spalding had for years carried on an extensive 
correspondence, which now greatly increased and became 
really burdensome. He frequently wrote, with his own 
hand, as many as twenty letters a day, some of them of 
considerable length, and on almost every conceivable topic. 

Bishops consulted him on points of theology or canon 
law, or as to the manner of meeting some practical difficul¬ 
ties ; priests asked his advice on a still greater variety of 
subjects ; others, who wished to refer their doubts to Rome, 
first sought his opinion. He received letters from members 
of religious orders and communities requiring answers to all 
manner of questions relating to monastic life and discipline. 
Unfledged authors sent him their manuscripts to read, and 


28 o 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


translators sought his approval of their work. Whoever had 
a project which he thought of vital interest to the church in 
this country submitted it to him. People who had got into 
quarrels and difficulties stated their cases to him. Some 
asked for letters of introduction, whilst others wished to know 
whether or not he would advise them to make a change of 
business. Mothers begged him to intercede for their sons 
who were in prison, wives for their husbands. Persons who 
had been impoverished by the war asked for assistance. 
Children wrote to remind him of his promise to send his 
photograph. Protestants made endless statements of their 
objections to the church, and asked to be enlightened. 
Others sent him criticisms on his sermons, lectures, or 
books. He was invited to preach here, and to lecture 
there. 

It was not an agreeable task to have to read all the letters 
which Archbishop Spalding received, and yet he rarely failed 
to return a prompt answer. He was the most punctual of 
correspondents. Not to receive an immediate reply to a 
letter addressed to him meant that he was sick or absent 
from home. 

To a Protestant gentleman who seemed to be honestly 
enquiring after religious truth he wrote as follows: 

“ DEAR Sir : Most willingly will I extend to you every aid 
in my power in securing success to your apparently sincere 
desire to find out and embrace the true church of Christ. I 
beg to propose to your serious meditation before God the 
following remarks, which embody much that is important to 
you in your present mental and religious condition : 

“ i. Faith is not merely the result of our human and un¬ 
aided opinions, but it is supernatural—a gift of God, granted 
only to the humble-minded and simple-hearted. ‘Unless 
you be converted, and become like unto little children, you 
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ A ray of 


Correspondence on Various Subjects. 281 


heavenly light flashes upon our mind when struggling darkly 
after the truth ; and, while it enlightens, it diffuses also a 
genial warmth, which is the source of divine love. God thus 
completes the work. This priceless gift, hidden from the 
wise ones of the world, is granted to the simple-hearted, and it 
must be sought with humble, trustful, and persevering prayer. 
‘ Without such faith it is impossible to please God,’ Heb. xi. 

“ 2. The church of Christ is the depository of the saving 
faith. It is a divine institution, but has in it a human 
element. Christ is its head, and it is the body of Christ par¬ 
taking of his divine character. The church is, moreover, the 
bride of Christ and the only mother of his children. * No 
one can have God for a father who has not the church for a 
mother,’ says St. Cyprian. 

“ 3. They who are outside of this church through their own 
faidt cannot be saved ; for they violate the divine command 
to hear the church, which is the organ of Christ’s communi¬ 
cation with the world—‘ he who hears you, hears me.’ They 
who are outside of this church without any fault of their 
own will not be condemned for this. Whether or not it is 
their fault God only, who searches hearts, can decide, and 
to his judgment we leave them. This is the doctrine of the 
church on exclusive salvation, and it commends itself by its 
consistency and reasonableness. 

“ 4. The doctrine of the real presence is perhaps the very 
clearest thing in all the written revelation of God ; and the 
only logical or possible way of explaining it is through tran- 
substantiation, or change of substance; but the change is 
hidden, and is thus an object of faith, which is a conviction 
of things unseen. It is as intelligible as the Trinity or other 
mysteries, and is perhaps more clearly revealed than any of 
them all.” 

To one who was troubled by the opposition of the church 
to Freemasonry, he wrote: 


282 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


“ For more than a hundred years before the issuing of the 
late Encyclical, it had been a settled discipline of the Catho¬ 
lic Church to exclude from communion all members of 
secret societies. This discipline is based upon the principle 
that it is morally wrong to take an oath of secrecy under 
the circumstances, and that a society banded together by 
such an oath is~ therefore unlawful ; and this without 
reference to the greater or less amount of evil or good 
that may be supposed to exist in such associations. 

“ No doubt, as you say, Freemasonry is not so bad in this 
country as in Europe; but it may be for all this, and even on 
this very account, the more dangerous, because the more 
insidious—on the principle that the worst of all counterfeits 
is the one nearest to the genuine article. The great evil of 
Freemasonry lies in this—that it is a human substitute for a 
divine religion ; and its high-sounding benevolence is an 
implied assumption that the church of Christ is not sufficient 
of itself to render men benevolent and charitable. Religion 
is the very source and fountain-head of all true charity, and 
it needs no such helps and can brook no such rivals as Free¬ 
masonry and Oddfellowship. The men who belong to these 
societies may be, as many of them no doubt are, very sin¬ 
cere and excellent persons ; but they would be much better 
had they the additional divine motive of action and the 
divine grace or help of religion to prompt and guide their 
natural benevolence. Knowing how well disposed are many 
of these misguided, or rather imperfectly guided men, I feel 
like exclaiming : Tales cum sint, utinam nostri essent! The 
natural does not suffice ; the supernatural is necessary! ” 

When the person to whom this letter was addressed 
hesitated about entering the church, apparently from want 
of moral courage, Archbishop Spalding addressed him in 
the following words : 

“ Is not heaven worth all the comparatively trifling sacri- 


Correspondence on Various Subjects. 283 

fices which you are called on to make in order to secure its 
enjoyment ? Did not the early disciples leave all things to 
follow Christ ? And after having now for eighteen centuries 
enjoyed heaven, do they regret the privations which they 
voluntarily endured ? Is this the case with the young man 
of the Gospel, who, having great possessions, clung to them 
and went away sad when our dear Lord invited him to be¬ 
come a disciple ? Think on these things, and act on those 
eternal and unchangeable truths. . . . You have rightly 

interpreted my answer. The church of Christ never com¬ 
promises where there is question of a principle.” 

This concluding sentence refers to what he had said con¬ 
cerning Freemasonry in the letter which I have given. 
Archbishop Spalding was inclined to put as liberal a con¬ 
struction as was consistent with sound principles of mor¬ 
ality upon the discipline of the church with regard to secret 
societies; and, where there was doubt whether a particular 
association should be looked upon as condemned, he leaned 
to the side of liberty. He was not, for instance, in favor of 
visiting with ecclesiastical censures Catholics who are mem¬ 
bers of trade-unions and similar associations. “ In our coun¬ 
try,” he said, in replying to a person who had asked his 
advice on this subject, “ capital is tyrant, and labor is its 
slave. I have no desire to interfere with the poor in their 
efforts to protect themselves, unless it be proved that these 
societies are plotting against the state or the church.” 

“ You rightly conjecture,” he wrote to a Protestant lady, 
“ that I should be gratified to serve you, though you are not 
a Catholic, and are, moreover, an entire stranger. Christi¬ 
anity inclines us to do all the good we can, without too 
close scrutiny into persons and things.” 

And to a Catholic lady he wrote: “You ask me for some¬ 
thing which will prove a sensation in this dull and insipid 
world. I answer you in these words: All for Jesus ! Make 


284 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

yourself a spouse of Christ, devoted to him, body, soul, and 
heart; loving him only and thinking only of him and doing 
everything for him. . . . Anything short of this will 

not satisfy your noble aspirations. Be a saint, a sister of 
charity in the world, trying to do good and to convert all to 
Christ.” 

In reply to a request for his autograph he wrote: “You 
ask me for my autograph and for an accompanying senti¬ 
ment. My autograph is scarcely worth my giving or your 
receiving; and I know of no sentiments better than those 
conveyed by our divine Lord and Master and his beloved 
disciple, John: ‘What doth it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world, and lose his own soul?’ ‘ God is light, and in 
him there is no darkness.’ ‘ He who loveth his brother 
abideth in the light; but he who hateth his brother is in 
darkness.’ ” 


CHAPTER XXII. 


THE SUFFERING PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH—THE DIOCESE 
OF CHARLESTON—THE CATHOLIC PROTECTORY—SER¬ 
MON AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME. 

HE assassination of President Lincoln, which was 
a national calamity, though his personal charac- 
acter, as it will be better understood, is destined 
to be less admired, called forth the following 
circular from Archbishop Spalding: 

“ Fellow-Citizens : 

“A deed of blood has been perpetrated which causes 
every heart to shudder, and which calls for the execration 
of every citizen. On Good Friday, the hallowed anniver¬ 
sary of our blessed Lord’s crucifixion, when all Christendom 
was bowed down in penitence and sorrow at his tomb, the 
President of these United States was foully assassinated, 
and a wicked attempt was made upon the life of the Secre¬ 
tary of State. Words fail us in expressing detestation 
for a deed so atrocious, hitherto happily unparallelled in our 
history. Silence is perhaps the best and most appropriate 
expression of a sorrow too great for utterance. 

“ We are quite sure that we need not remind our brethren 
in this archdiocese of the duty—which we are confident they 
will willingly perform—of uniting with their fellow-citizens 
in whatever may be deemed most suitable for indicating 
their horror of the crime and their feelings of sympathy 
with the bereaved. We also invite them to join in humble 
supplication to God for our beloved and afflicted country; 






286 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


and we enjoin that the bells of all our churches be solemnly 
tolled on the occasion of the late President’s funeral.” 

In the winter of 1864-65, the diocese of Charleston, which 
at that time extended over the two Carolinas, was tempo¬ 
rarily entrusted by the Holy See to the care of Archbishop 
Spalding. Dr. Lynch, the Bishop of Charleston, was in 
Europe, unable to return home on account of the blockade 
of the Southern ports. The Vicar-General,'who had been 
shut up in the besieged city, cut off from communication with 
the rest of the diocese, was taken sick and had died. Other 
priests had fallen victims to disease and excessive labor, 
until in Charleston but one was left who was able to do the 
work of the ministry. Archbishop Spalding gave him the 
powers of Vicar-General, and did all that it was possible to 
do to come to his relief. He sent two priests to Newbern, 
North Carolina, to attend to the spiritual wants of the sol¬ 
diers, amongst whom an epidemic had broken out. He suc¬ 
ceeded, too, in inducing others to go to Charleston, and 
interested himself in obtaining passes for them from the 
Government. 

“ I thank you,” he wrote to Archbishop Odin, of New 
Orleans, “ for your charity in so effectually interesting your¬ 
self in behalf of poor Charleston. Please thank the good 
Provincial [of the Jesuits] in my name. Father N-ex¬ 

pects to start for Charleston to-morrow. His companion is 
sick in Richmond, very much exhausted, and cannot go now.” 

On the 30th of June, 1865, he wrote to General Gillmore, 
to thank him for protecting the churches of Charleston: “ I 
have received your kind favor of the 24th of this month, 
communicating the welcome intelligence that, in compli¬ 
ance with my request, you have promptly taken measures 
for protecting the property of the Catholic Church in 
Charleston.” 



The Diocese of Charleston . 


287 


Archbishop Spalding’s sympathy with the suffering peo¬ 
ple of the South was very great; and he was, I believe, the 
first Catholic bishop to make an appeal in behalf of those 
whom the fortunes of war had reduced to utter wretched¬ 
ness. The cry of distress had gone forth, and, without 
stopping to consider whether it was politic—whether, in 
view of the bitter partisan feeling which had scarcely had 
time to abate ever so little, it was prudent—he issued a 
circular, calling upon his people to come to the relief of 
their suffering brethren of the South. 

He put the question on the broad basis of Christian 
charity, and he felt that it was safe to trust the generosity 
of the American character, which he believed capable of 
rising superior to partisan feelings when appealed to in the 
name of humanity. 

“ Is it not clearly,” he said, “ a Christian duty for us, who, 
by a merciful Providence, have been to a great extent freed 
from the calamities of a war which has pressed so heavily 
upon our neighbors, to come promptly and generously to 
their relief? Can we be held blameless before God if our 
brethren, whom we are solemnly commanded to love even 
as ourselves, should perish through our coldness and neg¬ 
lect ? Most of the sufferers are women, children, and other 
non-combatants, whose hands are outstretched to implore 
succor, and whose sighs of anguish ascend to heaven, while 
their tears bedew the earth. Can we find it in our hearts to 
resist their appeal?” 

The Catholics of Baltimore, in response to these earnest 
words of their Archbishop, contributed ten thousand dol¬ 
lars, which was distributed among the impoverished people 
of the South, without distinction of religious faith. The 
sum, indeed, was paltry, but the example was invaluable. 
To a Protestant lady who applied for assistance he wrote: 

“ I take pleasure in enclosing you this check, and I am 


288 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


only sorry that, from the hundreds of applicants, I am not 
able to send you much more. ... It was no doubt 
through inadvertence that you used the word ‘ Romish,’ 
which is a nickname. Our true name is Catholic, or Roman 
Catholic, as the British Parliament and all polite people 
call us.” 

Every phase of the question of education attracted the 
attention of Archbishop Spalding. He was of the opinion 
that the future of the church in this country depended, 
humanly speaking, upon this vital issue. The converts to 
Catholicism do not equal in number, so he thought at least, 
those who are lost to the faith, especially in our large cities, 
because of the difficulties with which we have to contend in 
our ineffectual efforts to secure to our children the blessings 
of Christian education. He frankly admitted the melancholy 
fact that a large proportion of the idle and vicious youth of 
our principal cities are the children of Catholics. 

Day by day these unhappy children are caught in the 
commission of petty crimes, which render them amenable 
to the authorities, by whom they are placed in sectarian or 
public reformatories, to be thence transferred by hundreds 
to distant localities, where they are brought up in complete 
ignorance of the religion in which they had been baptized. 
Numerous and active societies also exist, whose sole aim is 
to snatch from the church these helpless and unfortunate 
little ones. 

In his frequent journeyings through the West, Archbishop 
Spalding had become acquainted with the extent of the 
harm which, in this manner, is done to the cause of Catho¬ 
licism in this country; and he had also learned that the 
chief source of the evil is in the large cities of the East, 
where the church finds it impossible to provide for the great 
numbers of orphan and indigent children who are each year 
thrown upon her. 


The Catholic Protectory . 


289 


One of his first thoughts, therefore, after his promotion to 
the see of Baltimore, was given to this subject; and, after 
sufficient deliberation, he determined to found a Catholic 
protectory or industrial school, as, in his opinion, this was 
likely to prove the most effectual remedy for the evil. 

“ For years,” he said, in the letter which he addressed to 
his people on this matter, “ we have been losing hundreds 
of our poor children, particularly orphan and indigent boys. 
They are taken up from the streets or from the haunts 
of poverty, and are placed in institutions where their faith 
is either entirely neglected or artfully undermined. Do 
we not find all over the country thousands of persons 
who, from their names, should be Catholics, but who, un¬ 
fortunately, have abandoned the church, and who rear up 
their families in ignorance, sometii’nes in hatred of her 
sacred principles ? Thus the evil is propagated and con¬ 
tinually multiplied from generation to generation. Hun¬ 
dreds of thousands, if not millions, who should belong to 
the church in this country, are now, unhappily, through the 
criminal neglect of parents and the agencies above referred 
to, estranged from her communion. The evil is truly great, 
even gigantic, and it seems to be on the increase. . . . The 
only practical remedy is the establishment, on a large scale, 
of protectories or industrial schools, in which poor boys, ex¬ 
posed to the danger of losing their faith, may be religiously 
educated and trained up to pursuits which will fit them to 
become useful members of society and ornaments of the 
church. Such an establishment we have long had very 
much at heart, even from the first moment after God had 
constituted us your chief pastor, with the fearful responsi¬ 
bility of answering for your souls; and divine Providence 
has at length favored us with the opportunity to make a 
beo-innino-. We have secured the services of an excellent 
and devoted Brotherhood for this purpose, and we have 


290 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


procured suitable grounds—nearly fifty acres, with the pros¬ 
pect of getting over a hundred—within two miles of Balti¬ 
more.” 

In carrying out this work, into which he had entered with 
his wonted energy and will, Archbishop Spalding had to 
contend with serious difficulties. 

It was looked upon as something new in the Catholic 
history of Maryland, and the nihil innove{ur nisi quod' tradi¬ 
tion was brought to bear against it. Then, it was said, the 
plan could not be carried out; it would be impossible to 
raise the necessary means ; the Catholics of the archdiocese 
had already more institutions than they were able to sup¬ 
port, and they were not, moreover, accustomed to being so 
heavily taxed for their religion, and would not respond to 
-appeals made in behalf of a work the success of which was, 
-to say the least, doubtful. 

Such were the views of various prudent persons, who 
•seem to think it their special mission to serve the office of 
brakes when the church appears to them to be in danger of 
rgoing forward too rapidly. 

Archbishop Spalding, however, was not disconcerted. He 
had not moved without first considering what was to be 
done. He seldom, indeed, if ever, began a work from en¬ 
thusiasm or impulse, and he knew that miracles were not to 
be looked for where zeal and industry would accomplish the 
desired result. Though he relied on God’s providence, he 
knew that God’s providence is that we should greatly rely 
on the natural resources which he has given us. If we do 
nothing for ourselves, God will do nothing for us. Effort he 
believed to be the first law of progress in the church as in 
the world. Though eager to push forward whatever he 
thought would advance the cause of religion, he was not a 
man to rush rashly into any enterprise. Festina lente was 
one of his favorite mottoes. But then he had great faith in 


The Catholic Protectory. 


291 


the willingness of the Catholic people to do their duty 
when it is placed before them in the proper manner. 

He did not aim to rouse the enthusiasm of those whom 
he sought to influence—possibly he had little power to do 
this—but he appealed to their understanding and sense of 
right, and, having shown that a project was feasible, he pro¬ 
ceeded to explain how its realization became a duty. 

Though no one could be more jealous than he of any 
foreign interference in ecclesiastical matters, he yet believed 
that the church needs the active and intelligent co-opera¬ 
tion of the laity in many of her most important works. 
Then, he had the rare art of knowing how and whom to 
consult. 

“ You should not be so sensitive,” he wrote to one of his 
clergymen, “ about the opinions of the people belonging to 
your charge. You should act in concert with them, asking 
their advice, and following what may seem most sound ; in 
case of difficulty, referring to me. Thus only can you hope 
to win their confidence and gain their co-operation. This is 
my own rule of conduct. Conciliation and kindness are 
the best.” 

In projects and transactions where money was one term of 
the equation to be formed, he always took counsel of busi¬ 
ness men ; and his own knowledge of such matters enabled 
him to make the best use of their advice. His correspon¬ 
dence shows that he was persuaded that the surest way to 
make the people generous is to secure their confidence in 
the practical wisdom with which their offerings are used. 
He did not believe that, in the financial affairs of the church, 
there could be any need for secrecy, and he therefore held 
that, for many reasons, the people should be informed of the 
precise manner in which their contributions had been em¬ 
ployed. 

He placed his Protectory, which he had incorporated 


292 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


under the title of St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, 
under the protection of the Immaculate Mother of 
God. 

Mrs. McTavish, of whose generosity I have already had 
occasion to speak, gave the Archbishop, for the site of the 
institution, one hundred acres of land lying on the Frederick 
Road, within a short distance of the city. Temporary 
buildings were erected here, and the Xaverian Brothers, 
whom Archbishop Spalding had brought from Belgium for 
this purpose, took charge of the Protectory on the Feast of 
the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, 1866. 

They began with one boy ; the number, however, soon 
increased to forty-five, which was as many as could be 
accommodated in the temporary structure. In April, 1867, 
the foundation of the permanent building was laid, and it 
was completed in August, 1868. It is built of hammered 
stone, and is one hundred and thirty-six by sixty-six feet, 
five stories high, and capable of giving accommodation to 
four hundred boys. The entire cost of this structure was 
not more than sixty thousand dollars. 

The treasurer’s report from May, 1866, to December, 1868, 
shows that within that period eighty-one thousand four 
hundred and thirty-six dollars had been received for the 
institution. Of this sum, all to about one thousand 
dollars, which still remained in the treasury, had been 
spent in the erection of the new Protectory, and in 
buying implements for the farm, and machinery for car¬ 
rying on the various trades. In 1871, the institution had 
received two hundred and sixty-nine boys, who were 
being taught the trades of printing, shoemaking, tailoring, 
and carpentering, whilst others were employed as farmers, 
bakers, and blacksmiths. The boys do not, however, 
devote their time exclusively to these manual occupa¬ 
tions. They have hours for study and recitation, and for 


The Catholic Protectory . 


293 


instruction in the principles necessary to form faithful 
Catholics and good citizens. 

The great advantage of the industrial school over the 
orphan asylum is apparent. Orphan asylums, especially 
for boys, are, for the most part, merely drifting-places, 
where our children are sheltered, for a time, from the cur¬ 
rent that is hurrying them on to ruin, to which they must 
soon again be exposed, scarcely better prepared to battle 
against its seductive force than when they were first re¬ 
ceived into the asylum. The boys especially are thrown 
back into the world without a trade or any certain means 
of gaining a livelihood, their habits of idleness but ill cor¬ 
rected, their self-respect not increased, and they therefore 
fall an easy prey to the venal enticements of a mistaken 
proselytism, or to the allurements of vulgar pleasures. That 
these objections do not apply, at least with the same force, 
to industrial schools is evident. 

The history of these institutions, not only as conducted 
by the Catholic Church, but even when under other control, 
shows that this system tends to develop self-respect, energy, 
and other noble traits of character. The young men who 
have grown up in the protectory are frequently proud of 
their alma mater, and in after-life look back to her with a 
feeling akin to that with which a scholar regards his college 
or university. Then they return to the world skilled 
laborers, with habits of order and industry, able with head 
erect to elbow their way through the crowd in the great 
life-struggle. Though Archbishop Spalding was not the 
first Catholic who sought, by means of the industrial school, 
to save the abandoned children of our large cities—two 
converts, Father Haskins and Dr. Ives, having preceded 
him in this work—yet no one entered into it with greater 
earnestness, or had stronger faith than he in the results to 
be expected from institutions of this kind ; which, more- 


294 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


over, have received the high sanction of the fathers of the 
Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. “ We, therefore,” say 
the venerable prelates of the American church, “ earnestly 
exhort the Bishops to defend, with every possible care and 
solicitude, the tender lambs of the Christian fold from the 
wolves that hang around them. Let them establish indus¬ 
trial schools everywhere, but especially near the great cities, 
where the number of those in danger is larger. Worthy of 
praise are they who use every energy to build to God’s 
honor and worship magnificent temples of marble; but a 
far better and more useful labor is that which prepares for 
the divine Majesty an eternal dwelling in these living and 
chosen stones.” * 

And in their pastoral letter, referring to this same sub¬ 
ject, they say: “The only remedy for this great and daily 
augmenting evil is to provide Catholic protectories or indus¬ 
trial schools, to which such children maybe sent, and where, 
under the only influence that is known to have really 
reached the roots of vice, the youthful culprit may cease to 
do evil and learn to do good. 

“ We rejoice that in some of our dioceses—would that we 
could say in all!—a beginning has been made in this good 
work; and we cannot too earnestly exhort our venerable 
brethren of the clergy to bring this matter before their 
respective flocks, to endeavor to impress on Christian 
parents the duty of guarding their children from the evils 
above referred to, and to invite them to make persevering 
and effectual efforts for the establishment of institutions 
wherein, under the influence of religious teachers, the way¬ 
wardness of youth may be corrected, and good seed planted 
in the soil in which, while men slept, the enemy had sowed 
tares.” 

In May, 1866, Archbishop Spalding, by invitation of the 
* Con. Plen. Balt. II., Decret. 446. 


Sermon at the University of Notre Dame. 295 


Provincial of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, delivered 
a sermon on devotion to the Blessed Virgin, on the occasion 
of the unveiling of a monumental statue, and of the conse¬ 
cration of the University of Notre Dame to the Immaculate 
Mother of God. His devotion to the Blessed Virgin was 
truly tender and childlike ; but he could not bear anything 
false in the expression of the love which all true Christians 
should feel for her. “ Such faults,” he wrote in 1865, “ do 
great harm to the solid and proper devotion to our sweet 
Mother, who is best praised when the eulogy is strictly true.” 
And in a letter to Archbishop Kenrick, written in 1861, he 
said, referring to certain books of devotion : “ How much 
devotional trash disfigures our books !” A few passages 
from his sermon at Notre Dame, while serving as examples 
of his style as a preacher, will help to show his deep love for 
Mary. “ There are,” he said, “ two great events, the great¬ 
est of all in the world’s history. The first was disastrous ; 
the second glorious. In both these events a woman figured, 
an angel figured, a man figured. In the first, Eve, the mo¬ 
ther of all the living ; in the second, Mary, the Mother of all 
the regenerate—Eve, the mother of the fallen ; Mary, the 
Mother of the risen. In the first, an angel of evil took the 
form of the serpent, and beguiled unto her ruin and unto our 
ruin our first mother. In the second, the archangel of God 
addressed another woman, and she obeyed his voice and 
became the mother of a new race. Man figured in both; he 
fell in the first; and, immediately after that first fall, the 
prophecy went forth that God would put enmity between 
the serpent and the woman, and between her seed and his 
seed; and that she, through her seed, Jesus Christ, should 
crush the serpent’s head ; that she should retrieve by her 
obedience what had been lost by the disobedience of the 
first mother of the human race. The parallel is not mine. 
It comes down to us through the Fathers of the church from 


296 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


the very beginning of Christianity. It comes echoing down 
the ages, from the clays of the apostles until the later times 
of St. Alphonsus Liguori. Justin Martyr, in the second 
century; Irenaeus and Tertullian, the powerful champions 
of Christianity in its struggle with infidelity at the end of 
the second and the beginning of the third century; St. Am¬ 
brose, St. Peter Chrysologus, and. St. Augustine, who recite 
the language of Tertullian ; and, indeed, all the Fathers teach 
that Mary retrieved by her obedience all that Eve had lost 
by her disobedience ; that Mary’s becoming the mother of 
the Man-God crushed the serpent’s head, and bade us lift 
up our heads and look heavenward, for the day of our 
redemption was near at hand. We may not say that 
Mary was but a passive instrument in this great work 
of redemption. She was an intelligent instrument; she 
was a moral agent, and could have refused her consent. 
But she was obedient; she assented, and became the 
mother of her Saviour-God. . . . Do not say that 

we exaggerate the prerogatives of Mary. The church 
of the living God never exaggerates. Whatever she says 
and does is said and done in truth. We are opposed 
to all exaggerations, for Mary needs no exaggerated eu¬ 
logy. The simple truth is sublime enough, and sufficient 
for her votaries, however dearly they may love her, or 
however much they may wish to exalt her. 

The church proclaims what we always preach—that Mary 
is but a creature ; that her Son was and is God ; and that 
there is an infinite distance between Mary and her Son. 
She tells us, and we preach it, that Mary was redeemed by 
the blood of her Son ; that she has no favor, no exemption, 
but by and through the blood of that divine Son. . . . 

All that we have to do is simply to place her in the position 
in which God has placed her, to honor her as the archangel 
honored her in the name of God, and to love her as her own 


Sermon at the University of Notre Dame . 297 

Son loved her. The first pulsation of his heart in his 
mother’s womb, and the first light of love that was in his 
eye when he came into the world, were given to his dear 
mother; and the last sigh which escaped him on the cross 
was breathed out to that same tender, devoted, and loving 
being. . . . They tell us that in honoring the mother 

we dishonor the Son. Believe it not. They who make the 
objection do not themselves believe it. Why do we honor 
Mary? We honor her because she was his mother; we 
honor her because he loved her, because he is our dear 
Brother and she is our dear Mother. I look at the beauti¬ 
ful, serene moon, which lights up the night in the heavens, 
with wonder and admiration ; but do I detract in so doing 
from the brilliancy of the sun ? And yet, does not the moon 
derive its light from the sun ? . . g . They who scoff at 

our love of the Blessed Virgin do not understand the feel¬ 
ings of a Catholic heart. . . . There is a mother ; she 

has with her a little daughter, whom she is caressing ; her 
heart is full of love; her words are not marked with logical 
precision or accuracy; she idolizes the child; her mother’s 
heart knows no bounds; she would seem to prefer that 
child to God—certainly to all else in the world. These men 
who sneer at us should carp at that fond mother for the 
simple outpourings of her mother’s heart.” 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


THE SECOND PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 

N a letter to Bishop Timon, under date of August 
23, 1 865, Archbishop Spalding alludes to his de¬ 
sire to hold a Plenary Council of the bishops of 
the United States: 

“ A letter from Rome, dated July 17, states that the ques¬ 
tion of the Plenary Council to be held next year was agitated 
in Rome, and that Cardinal Barnabo was warmly in favor of 
it. This is, no doubt, in consequence of our letter, written 
June 14, explaining, under four or five heads, the motives 
for holding such a council. The intelligence is favorable 
to our project, from which I anticipate much good. Why 
should we not have a Catholic university? It would be a 
great thing if we could only agree as to the location and 
arrangements.” 

The principal motives for holding a council, to which 
reference is here made, were, first, that at the close of the 
national crisis, which had acted as a dissolvent upon all sec¬ 
tarian ecclesiastical organizations, the Catholic Church might 
present to the country and the world a striking proof of the 
strong bond of unity with which her members are knit to¬ 
gether. Secondly, that the collective wisdom of the church 
in this country might determine what measures should be 
adopted in order to meet the new phase of national life 
which the result of the war had just inaugurated ; for, 
though the church is essentially the same in all times and 
places, her accidental relations to the world and the state 
are necessarily variable. 






The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, 299 

“ The customs of men,” says Benedict XIV., “ vary, and 
circumstances continually change. That which is useful at 
one period may cease to be so, and may become even hurt¬ 
ful in another age. The duty of a prudent pastor, unless 
prevented by a higher law, is to accommodate himself to 
times and places, to lay aside many ancient usages, when by 
his own judgment and the light of God he deems this to be 
for the greater good of the diocese with which he is en¬ 
trusted.” * 

Thirdly, that an earnest effort might be made to render 
ecclesiastical discipline, as far as possible, uniform throughout 
the entire extent of the United States. The fourth motive 
I shall give in the words of Archbishop Spalding : 

“ I think,” he wrote, “ that it is our most urgent duty to 
discuss the future status of the negro. Four millions of 
these unfortunate beings are thrown on our charity, and 
they silently but eloquently appeal to us for help. We 
have a golden opportunity to reap a harvest of souls, which, 
neglected, may not return.” 

The bishops of the United States very generally agreed 
that the time was opportune for holding a Plenary Council, 
and that the interests of religion demanded that it should 
be convoked at as early a date as possible. Some few, how¬ 
ever, seemed to hesitate, on the ground chiefly that the 
country was still in too unsettled a condition, and that 
public sentiment with regard to the church, especially in 
the North, was as yet very uncertain. 

Then they feared, too, that unpleasant discussions might 
arise in the Council. 

Archbishop Spalding himself felt no anxiety on these 
points. The bishops were to meet to attend to their own 
business, and not to meddle with affairs of state; and he 
thought he understood the public sentiment of the nation 
* De Synod Dioce, lib. v. c. iii. 


300 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


well enough to feel confident that in doing this they could 
have nothing to fear. 

As to the other cause of uneasiness, he wrote to one of 
his brethren in the episcopate: 

“ I see no reason why we should fear the discussion of 
agitating topics. The question is closed and need not be 
reopened.” 

Pius IX., in his Letters Apostolic of February 16, 1866, 
after signifying his approval of the project of holding a 
Plenary Council, constituted Archbishop Spalding its presi¬ 
dent. “ Wherefore,” wrote the Holy Father, “ having fully 
examined the subject, we, with our venerable brethren, the 
cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, who superintend the 
affairs of the propagation of the faith, have resolved to dele¬ 
gate you, venerable brother, whose piety, knowledge, and 
profound reverence for the Holy See are well known to us, 
to the office of convoking and presiding over that. Council. 
. . . We command, besides, all and each of your venera¬ 

ble brother bishops of the United States, that they receive 
and accept you, whom we have deputed to call together 
this Council, as its president and director, and that they 
obey you, assist you, and support you.” 

As the time for holding the synod had been left to the 
judgment of the American prelates, Archbishop Spalding, 
having first received their opinions on the subject, issued 
letters of convocation, calling all who, by right or custom, 
should take part in a council of this kind, to meet in Balti¬ 
more on the second Sunday of October, 1866. 

This delay was deemed necessary for the proper prepara¬ 
tion of the matters to be treated of in the Council. 

“ I know enough about councils,” wrote the Archbishop, 
“ to understand that, if nothing definite be prepared, no¬ 
thing will be done, but all will end in talk.” 

In another letter, in which he gives his views concern- 


The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. 301 

ing what should be done in the Council, he says: “ I 
have thought of embodying in the Council a succinct expo¬ 
sition of doctrine, together with the condemnation of cur¬ 
rent heresies and errors, as well as suitable rules for the 
regulation of moral conduct and discipline. ... I have 
thought, also, of making our approaching Council a com¬ 
plete repertory of our canon law, embracing, in systematic 
order, all our previous enactments in the Baltimore councils, 
together with such canons of provincial and diocesan synods 
as we may wish to make of general application. In a word, 
of making it a sort of corpus juris for the American Church ; 
throwing into an appendix all Roman rescripts and deci¬ 
sions which have reference to our affairs.” He adds: “ In 
order to carry out this plan, I shall need the active co¬ 
operation of the Metropolitans.” 

The idea of making doctrinal exposition and the condemn¬ 
ation of* current errors features of the Council was new in 
the history of such assemblies in this country. A national 
council can, of course, in this matter do nothing more than 
state the faith already defined, since it does not lie within 
its competency to make new definitions, which are reserved 
either to the infallible Pontiff or to the church in oecumen¬ 
ical council assembled, and presided over by him. This 
feature in Archbishop Spalding’s plan was not, however, 
without precedent or the approval of the Holy See. It is 
found in several of the principal provincial councils held in 
Europe, from 1850 to i860, as in those of Cologne, Vienna, 
and Prague; and, in one or two instances, the Holy See 
found the meagreness of doctrinal statement worthy of 
blame. As each variety of social condition must have its 
own peculiar phases of error, it cannot but be highly useful 
to place the truth in precisely that light in which the dan¬ 
ger of the error will, by contrast, be best seen; and no 
more solemn or effectual means of calling the attention of 


302 ' Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

the faithful of a particular portion of the church to sound 
doctrine, as opposed to the false theories and systems 
which they hear defended around them, could be found 
than that which is given in the united voices of the entire 
episcopate of the nation. 

In the fall of 1865, Archbishop Spalding wrote: “ I’have 
procured copies of some dozen provincial and diocesan 
councils, held in Europe from 1850 to i860, and I must 
confess that, in comparison with them, ours appear very 
meagre, especially in moral and doctrinal exposition, which 
in them occupies much space. We have very much to do 
to lay deeply and solidly the foundations of our canon law. 
Until now we seem not to have advanced far beyond the 
rudiments.” 

No sooner had the Holy Father given his sanction to the 
holding of a council, than Archbishop Spalding entered into 
the work with all the energy of which he was capable. 

“ My whole heart was and is in the Council,” he wrote to 
Cardinal Cullen ; “ and, whatever else may be said, I think all 
will allow me credit for considerable industry. The codifi¬ 
cation of all previous Baltimore legislation, together with 
the seeking out and verifying all quotations, was itself a 
laborious task. But the greatest difficulty was in shaping 
the new decrees so as to meet the exigencies of so many 
provinces and dioceses, so differently organized and so 
remote from one another, with so many nationalities— 
French and Spanish particularly, besides Irish, German, 
and American; to harmonize all this, and to present a code 
of uniform discipline in which all could essentially agree, 
was not an easy task.” “ The doctrinal and pastoral portions 
of the Council,” he wrote upon another occasion, “ have been 
drawn up with much labor and care; every quotation hav¬ 
ing been carefully verified from the original.” 

The Acta Concilio Prccvia , containing a brief statement of 


The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. 303 

the matters to be treated of in the Council, were sent to all 
whose duty it was to take part in the discussions. Particu¬ 
lar tituli were assigned to each Metropolitan, who was re¬ 
quested, with the assistance of his suffragans, to prepare them 
for conciliary action. The first two were written out by 
Archbishop Spalding himself. The prelates were requested 
to make any suggestions which might seem good to them, 
and freely to propose whatever they should deem to be in 
furtherance of the progress and welfare of the church in this 
country. “ Draw up your bill,” he wrote to one of them, 
“ as they say in Congress, and it shall be brought before the 
house.” He desired that the largest liberty consistent with 
the rules necessary for the maintenance of order in delibera¬ 
tive assemblies should be exercised in the discussion of 
matters submitted to the action of the Council; and to this 
end, whoever might choose was permitted in debate to speak 
English instead of Latin. 

When the tituli had been returned, Archbishop Spalding 
called together a college of theologians to assist him in the 
final preparation of the matters to be proposed to the Fa¬ 
thers of the Council. In connection with the history of this 
Ccetus Thcologorum , I may be permitted to quote from a 
letter of Archbishop Spalding to Bishop Lynch, of Charles¬ 
ton : “ I can scarcely thank you sufficiently,” he wrote, “ for 
sending me Dr. Corcoran. His services have, indeed, been 
invaluable.” Dr. Keogh, too, was an able member of this 
body of theologians. Bishop Heiss, at that time rector of 
the Seminary of Milwaukee, had been invited and had come 
on to lend the assistance of his learning and experience to 
the work; but he was unfortunately taken sick a short time 
after his arrival in Baltimore. The members of the reli¬ 
gious orders also added the weight of their great knowledge 
and wisdom to these deliberations. Indeed, to this work of 
preparation Archbishop Spalding, with great discernment, 


304 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


brought the very first theological talent of the country. He 
wished to make the Council as perfect as might be, and he 
therefore called to his aid the ablest men whom he could 
find. Nothing gave him greater delight than to place 
learning and genius in the service of religion. He had 
not the weakness to imagine that the church is not capable 
of satisfying all the intellectual wants of even the most gifted 
minds; or that, because a man is able, he should be looked 
upon with distrust. If great minds have proved untrue to 
the church, so have little minds ; and in neither case was 
the fault of the head, but of the heart. Wherever he beheld 
men of talent battling for the truth, he lent them the aid of 
a sympathy that was not barren. “ Frater noster es,” he 
would say, “ crescas in mille milliad 

When at length the day on which the Council was to 
meet had come, everything was ready. Not even the 
minutest details had been overlooked in the preparation. 

On the 7th of October, 1866, seven archbishops, thirty- 
eight bishops, three mitred abbots, and over one hundred 
and twenty theologians met in Baltimore to take part in 
the deliberations of the Second Plenary Council of the 
church in the United States. This was, at the time, the 
largest conciliary assembly since the Council of Trent, with 
the exception of two or three meetings of the bishops in 
Rome, which, however, were not councils in any proper 
sense of the word. 

Never, in the history of the church in this country, had 
anything approached in grandeur the opening of this synod. 

“ Already,’’ said Father Ryan, in his eloquent discourse at 
the Council—“ already, during these festive days, you have 
witnessed the external splendor of the church. You saw 
her, on Sunday last, at the opening of the Council, as the 
king’s daughter, ‘ in golden vesture, surrounded with variety ’; # 
you heard the rustling of her variegated garments, as the 


The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore . 305 


prelates passed in gorgeous procession; you heard the glo¬ 
rious music that almost shook these massive walls, and 
wafted to the throne of God the profession of faith of the 
young church of these States—that Credo in unam Sanctam 
Cathohcam et Apostohcam Ecclesiam which, for fifteen cen¬ 
turies, from the Council of Nice to the Second Council of 
Baltimore, has expressed the faith of her children.” 

The bishops, clad in splendid robes, with mitred heads, 
each bearing the crosier in hand, attended by a throng of 
priests and acolytes, recalled, as they moved in solemn pro¬ 
cession through the streets to the cathedral, what we read 
of the religious pageants of the middle ages. 

The whole city had crowded to behold the glorious scene. 
The streets around the cathedral were thronged. Every 
window and available spot, even the house-tops from which 
a view of the procession could be had, were filled with eager 
spectators, who looked on in silent reverence. 

The country had just come forth from a most terrible 
crisis, in which many ancient landmarks had been effaced, 
and the very ship of state had been wrenched from its. 
moorings. House had been divided against house, and 
brother’s hand had been raised against brother. The sects 
had been torn asunder, and still lay in disorder and confu¬ 
sion, helping to widen the abyss which had threatened to 
engulf the nation’s life. Half the country was waste and 
desolate; the people crushed, bowed beneath the double 
weight of the memory of the past, which could no more 
return, and of the thought of a future which seemed hope¬ 
less. On the other side, there were the weariness and ex¬ 
haustion which follow a supreme effort, and the longing for 
peace and happiness after so much bloodshed and misery. 

All were ready to applaud any power that had been able 
to live through that frightful struggle unhurt and unharmed ; 
and when the Catholic Church walked forth before the eyes 


3°6 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


of the nation, clothed in the panoply of undiminished strength 
and of unbroken unity, thousands, who but a while ago would 
have witnessed this manifestation of her power with jealous 
concern, now hailed it with delight as a harbinger of good 
omen. Then it must be confessed, too, that during the war 
men had seen more of the church, and, having learned to 
know her better, had come to love her more. There was 
not a village throughout the land where some brave soldier, 
not a Catholic, was not found to speak the praises of her 
heroic daughters, who, whilst men fought, stood by to 
staunch the blood. 

The deliberations of the Council were conducted in ac¬ 
cordance with the rules of parliamentary debate. The mat¬ 
ters prepared for discussion were first submitted to particular 
congregations of theologians, each of which was presided 
over by a bishop. 

The result of these discussions, gathered by a notary, with 
the votes and motives alleged for or against, in case of 
disagreement, were then transmitted to the bishops, who in 
their private sessions occupied themselves with questions 
already debated in the congregations of theologians. A 
new examination was here instituted, a proces verbal of 
which was made by the secretaries. These preliminary dis¬ 
cussions, however, decided nothing; but all was referred to 
the general congregations, and was finally promulgated in the 
public sessions of the Council. And even then the solemn 
sanction of the Vicar of Christ was still wanting. “ Our 
legislation is not perfect,” said Archbishop Spalding, in his 
sermon before the opening of the Council, “ until it has 
received the approval of him who sits in the chair of Peter, 
and who is our chief executive; just as our acts of Congress 
do not become law until they are approved by the President. 
Hence, the conciliary acts and decrees will not be published 
until they will have been confirmed by the Pope. This is 


The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. 307 

one among the great conservative elements and principles 
of our church, which prevents hasty or injudicious legisla¬ 
tion, and secures uniformity of discipline under the guidance 
of one visible head.” 

It is the privilege of the church that, notwithstanding her 
fixed and immutable constitution of faith, and, to some ex¬ 
tent, even of discipline, she is yet able, without hurt either 
to her unity or her Catholicity, to adapt herself to the vari-, 
ous modifications of human society with which she is thrown- 
into contact. Indeed, it seems - that, precisely because she is. 
so fixed in faith and in essential discipline, she can therefore r 
with less danger in other things, allow a certain liberty 
where circumstances demand it. The sects, in trying to fit 
themselves to new conditions of life, break into fragments. 
Th'e central life-force in them is too feeble to resist the dis¬ 
integrating action of the varying influences of nationalism 
or even of sectionalism. But the church is not so weakly 
built. 

Now, our social condition is so unlike that which is found 
elsewhere that our church polity cannot be expected to be 
altogether the same as that which in many particulars is the 
outgrowth of circumstances wholly dissimilar from those in 
which we are placed. In the essential organization of the 
church here, there is, of course, nothing different from that 
which exists elsewhere—the universal headship of the 
Vicar of Christ, under him the authority of the bishop in 
his own diocese, extending over both priest and people; 
and the mutual relations of these exist substantially here as- 
in other parts of the world. Our faith being Catholic, all 
those observances, disciplinary and ritualistic, which are but 
the expression of that faith, are, of course, binding upon us- 
as upon other Catholics. 

In fact, any peculiarities of discipline which may exist 
here concern chiefly matters of detail and certain accidental 


3°8 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


relations of the two orders of the clergy. I, of course, leave 
out of the question what may be called the public ecclesias¬ 
tical law ; and, confining the enquiry within the limits thus 
indicated, a careful study of the Second Plenary Council of 
Baltimore will, if I am not mistaken, confirm this view of 
the subject. However this may be, had the Fathers of that 
Council done nothing more than give a full and methodical 
statement of all previous ecclesiastical legislation in this 
country, making, where it seemed proper, what had been 
particular, general, they would have performed a great 
work. 

They have done this, and much more. They have given 
us a code of laws, which, indeed, from its very nature could 
not be either complete or perfect, but which will serve as 
the fixed and solid foundation upon which to build what¬ 
ever superstructure the wants of the church in this country 
may in future demand. 

The whole tenor of the Second Plenary Council shows an 
increasing disposition in the American prelates to conform, 
wherever it is possible, to the general usage of the church, 
and, indeed, to comply with certain wise provisions which, 
even in Catholic countries, have been allowed to fall into 
desuetude. 

They insist, for instance, that the law of the Council of 
Trent, which requires Provincial Councils to be held every 
three years, shall be observed in these United States. And 
in declaring what should be the aim of these synods, they 
say: 

“ Wherefore, let the Metropolitans and their suffragans in 
Council assembled, having consulted together, pass such 
decrees as, all things considered, may seem to them best 
for protecting the doctrines of the church against current 
errors, for reforming the morals of the faithful to them com¬ 
mitted, and, in fine, for promoting uniformity of discipline, 


The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, 309 

in accordance with the general discipline of the Catholic 
Church as it is laid down and defined in the Pontifical Con¬ 
stitutions and in the (Ecumenical Councils.” * 

In enumerating the rights of Metropolitans, too, they 
evince a desire to return to what, in many other churches at 
the present day, is to a great extent suffered to remain in 
abeyance. And in the instruction of the Sacred Congrega¬ 
tion, De Decretis Corrigendis, the Holy See makes two addi¬ 
tions to these rights, as stated by the Fathers of the Plenary 
Council, which manifest quite significantly the tendency of 
our ecclesiastical polity. 


P. 47, n. 59. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


SECOND PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, CONTINUED— 

APPOINTMENT OF BISHOPS—PAROCHIAL RIGHTS—CATHO¬ 
LIC UNIVERSITY. 

HE establishment of the first episcopal see in this 
country was due to the initiatory movement of 
the priests of Maryland and Pennsylvania, who, 
before the Declaration of Independence, had 
been subject to the Vicar Apostolic of London. Believing 
that this state of things could not continue without injury 
to religion, they appointed, shortly after the close of the 
war, a committee of three to petition the Holy See to erect 
a bishopric in the United States, and to give them the pri¬ 
vilege to nominate a fit person for the episcopal office. This 
request having been granted by Rome, the clergy selected 
Father Carroll to fill the new see, and their choice was rati¬ 
fied by the Holy Father. 

The sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Bardstown 
were created in 1808, at the instance of Bishop Carroll, who, 
it seems, presented the candidates to fill them, with the ex¬ 
ception of Bishop Concannen, who, I believe, was appointed 
to New York by the Holy S ee, proprio motu. 

From this time, when sees became vacant or the erection 
of new ones became necessary, the bishops themselves 
generally presented the candidates, though, occasionally, 
when suitable persons were not found here, the Holy See 
selected some one in Europe, as in the case of Bishop 
England’s appointment. 

In 1834, the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith 
determined the manner in which candidates for episcopal 






Appointment of Bishops . 311 

sees in this country should be presented, being substantially 
that which was already in existence. 

Slight modifications of this law were made by the Sacred 
Congregation in 1850, in 1856, and again in 1859. And 
since, to use the words of the Second Plenary Council, it 
would seem that this mode of election is capable of being 
changed for the better, and made still more perfect, the 
archbishops of the United States were asked by the Holy 
See whether .they could propose any modifications which 
would be likely to secure greater success in the choice of 
bishops. Their answer having been received, the Sacred 
Congregation made certain additions to the decrees hitherto 
issued on the subject, by which the mode of presenting can¬ 
didates was still further changed. 

The system thus modified, and as found in the Second 
Plenary Council, is substantially this: Every three years 
each bishop sends to his Metropolitan and to the Congrega¬ 
tion of Propaganda a list of the priests whom he thinks 
worthy of the episcopal office, accompanied by a detailed 
account of the qualities which distinguish them. When a 
see becomes vacant, the bishops meet in synod or in some 
other way, and discuss the merits of the candidates to be 
presented to fill it. 

Three names are then chosen by secret suffrage, and are 
sent to Rome, together with a prods verbal of the proceed¬ 
ings. From this list the Sovereign Pontiff selects the person 
whom he thinks best suited to the office. However, in case 
the person to be chosen is to be an archbishop or the co-ad- 
jutor of an archbishop, all the metropolitans of the United 
States must be consulted. 

Archbishop Spalding was, as I infer from his correspon¬ 
dence on this subject, in favor of still further modifying this 
system, so as, in some way, to give the second order of the 
clergy a voice in the presentation of candidates for episcopal 


3 12 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


office. He would have given the diocesan councillors the 
right to present a list of names to be sent to Rome with that 
of the bishops. He thought that the Episcopal Council in 
this country should be looked upon as a quasi-chapter, and 
that the giving them a vote would bring us nearer the 
general discipline of the church in this matter. Indeed, he 
was in favor of introducing the Canonical Chapter, as an 
element in our church polity, whenever this could be done. 
The Plenary Council does not seem, however, to have en¬ 
tered upon the discussion of this subject. 

Upon the question of instituting canonical parishes and 
pastors, Archbishop Spalding expressed his opinion in a 
letter to the Archbishop of St. Louis, written before the 
opening of the Second Plenary Council. 

f While,” he says, “ I would favor the gradual creation of 
parish priests, beginning with the large cities, and legislating 
in that direction, also, for country districts, according to the 
plan of my venerable predecessor (Synod Balt., 1853, can. 3), 
I should with him still maintain their movability ad judi¬ 
cium Episcopi; and I should deem it premature, and proba¬ 
bly disastrous in its consequences, to adopt at once the full 
parochial system, for which we are scarcely prepared.” 

The legislation of the Second Plenary Council is substan¬ 
tially in accord with these views ; for whilst the fathers 
declare it to be their desire that throughout the States, 
especially in the larger cities, districts, with accurately 
defined limits, be assigned to the churches, and that to 
their rectors parochial or quasi-parochial rights be given, 
they yet affirm that they by no means intend that im¬ 
movability be considered as one of these rights. The 
bishops, however, are exhorted not to use their privileges 
in this matter, except for grave reasons.* 

The whole spirit of the legislation of the Second Baltimore 
* Vid. Con. Plen. Balt. //., Nos. 124 et 125. 


Catholic University. 


3i3 


Council, as it relates to this question and that of the appoint¬ 
ment of bishops, both of which are in a measure vital to the 
interests of the church in this country, breathes breadth of 
view and enlightened wisdom. 

As we have seen from the letter of Archbishop Spalding 
to Bishop Timon, quoted above, one of the first subjects, in 
connection with the Second Plenary Council, which sug¬ 
gested itself to his mind was the founding of a Catholic 
university. The deep interest which he took in this pro¬ 
ject is also perceived from his Irish and Belgian correspond¬ 
ence, in which he seeks for information concerning the estab¬ 
lishment of the universities of Dublin and Louvain. Among 
the questions which he submitted to the Fathers of the Bal¬ 
timore Council was this: Whether the time had not come 
when, with the sanction of the Sovereign Pontiff, an univer¬ 
sity should be founded in this country? It was his opinion 
that an university would give us greater means than we had 
hitherto possessed for bringing the truths of our faith before 
the more intelligent class of Americans in a manner which 
could not but arrest their attention. And now that the 
church is an ubiquitous fact in this country, he felt that no 
tifne should be lost, and that we should at once go to work 
to create an American Catholic literature, irreproachable 
both in thought and style, which would deal with all the 
living problems of the age, and thus furnish a Catholic solu¬ 
tion for the doubts by which thousands of those outside the 
church, who think, are tortured To the attainment of this 
end nothing would be more likely to contribute than a great 
central seat of Catholic learning, encircled by the halo of 
illustrious names, to which the eyes of Catholics from every 
part of the Union might turn with pride and reverence. It 
is humiliating to consider how much of what is best in our 
English and American Catholic literature is the work of men 
who were educated outside of the church. 


314 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


To fit our young men for the great vocation of Catholic 
writers, an university education here at home would possess 
special advantages over any that could be had in foreign 
countries. 

The thorough knowledge of the general thought of the 
country, of its peculiar shades and tendencies, the familiarity 
with what is best and most worthy of study in our own litera¬ 
ture, which a Catholic university education here would give, 
could not be obtained in Europe. 

As in helping to found the American College at Louvain 
Archbishop Spalding did not think he was doing anything 
that could interfere with the establishment of the Roman 
College, so he did not in the present case believe that the 
creation of an university in this country would in any way 
injure our foreign seminaries. Nor did he accept the opin¬ 
ion of those who hold that an university should not be 
created, but should grow into being and form. This may 
have been the general law of its formation in a ruder and 
more plastic state of the social organism; but in our society, 
in which every interest is represented by organized bodies, 
projects which are left to work themselves out are apt to 
be crushed by coming into-collision with passions and pre¬ 
judices in league with capital, and identified with special 
interests, which are watched over by jealous and vigilant 
corporations. With a primitive people, institutions grow 
up ; among a highly cultivated and civilized people, they are 
created. 

Besides, since public instruction intimately concerns faith 
and morals, and has a direct influence upon the welfare and 
peace of the church, Catholics have always held that the 
intervention of the ecclesiastical authority is required for 
the founding of a university. The history of all the ancient 
universities, from the thirteenth century down to the estab¬ 
lishment of the University of Fulda, in 1732, shows that 


Catholic University. 


315 


this principle was never lost sight of. The nineteen univer¬ 
sities which came into existence in the sixteenth century 
were all either founded or confirmed by the Holy See. 
This historical fact is resumed in the following sentence 
from the Brief by which Gregory XVI. approved of the 
Catholic University of Lovain: Cclebriores illustrioresque 
Europev universitates non nisi ex sententia et assensu Roma- 
noruni Pontificum fuisse const it ut as gravissimee illarutn histo - 
rice amplissime testantur . 

But the time when the great work of founding a Cath¬ 
olic university in the United States was to be begun, had 
not yet come, though the Fathers of the Second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore express their most ardent desire to 
see such an institution established here ; * and their words 
concerning the plan of studies which should be pursued in 
higher ecclesiastical seminaries plainly show the urgent want 
of a Catholic university in this country. 

“We have now no longer,” they say, “to contend with 
the oft-refuted heresies and errors of a bygone age; but 
with new adversaries—unbelievers of a pagan rather than a 
Christian character; men who account as naught God and 
his divine promises, but who do not the less possess culti¬ 
vated minds. According to them, the things of heaven and 
earth have no other meaning or value than that which natu¬ 
ral reason assigns them. Thus they flatter pride, so deeply 
rooted in our nature, and seduce those who are not on their 
guard. If truth cannot persuade them, since they do not 
care to listen, it must, at least, close their mouths, lest their 
vain discourse and sounding words delude the simple.” f 

It was impossible that, in the two weeks to which they 
had limited their sittings, they should have been able to 
decide upon all the important matters which it was proposed 
to submit to them. Then, the urgent wants of the Ameri- 
* Con. Plen. Balt. II, n. 451. f Tit. iii. p. 108. 


3 16 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


can College in Rome demanded their immediate attention; 
and as it was thought necessary that all the bishops should 
exert themselves to raise a very considerable sum of money, 
that this institution might be permanently endowed, it was 
not deemed advisable to enter upon so vast an undertaking 
as the founding of a Catholic university.* 

* The idea of a university is that of an institution whose soul-life is the 
intercommunion and mutual connection of all the sciences. As the great 
intellectual work in the church in our day is to show that theology, which 
is the science of God’s revelation as interpreted by the church, is not only 
not in contradiction with, but is the essential and central point of union of, 
the whole scientific group, it is at once evident that the mission of a Catho¬ 
lic university is of the very first importance. Or, we may consider the univer¬ 
sity as the crown of all other institutions of learning. No general system 
cf education can be complete which does not terminate in and receive its 
complertient from the university. As Catholics in this country have a sys¬ 
tem of education peculiar to themselves and different from that which exists 
around them, a Catholic university to crown the edifice is of necessity de¬ 
manded. ‘ I fear,” wrote Bishop Spalding to Archbishop Kenrick in 1856, 
“we shall never be united in any general object outside the domain of faith 
and morals.” I may be permitted to close these desultory remarks on a 
subject than which none should be of more interest to American Catholics, 
with a passage from Dr. Newman: 

“ I end as I began. A university is a place of concourse, whither stu¬ 
dents come from every quarter for every kind of knowledge. You cannot 
have the best of every kind everywhere; you must go to some great city 
or emporium for it. There you have all the choicest productions of nature 
and art all together, which you find each in its own separate place else¬ 
where. All the riches of the land and of the world are carried up thither ; 
there are the best markets, and there the best workmen. It is the centre of 
the trade, the supreme court of fashion, the umpire of rival skill, and the 
standard of things rare and precious. It is the place for seeing galleries of 
first-rate pictures, and for hearing wonderful voices and miraculous per¬ 
formers. It is the place for great preachers, great orators, great nobles, 
great statesmen. In the nature of things, greatness and unity go together ; 
excellence implies a centre. Such, then, is a university. It is the place to 
which a thousand schools make contributions ; in which the intellect may 
safely range and speculate, sure to find its equal in some antagonist activ¬ 
ity, and its judge in the tribunal of truth. It is a place where enquiry is 


Catholic Un iversity . 


317 


My purpose does not lead me, for the present at least, to 
examine further into the work accomplished by the Second 
Plenary Council of Baltimore. 

It may not be out of place, however, to give an estimate 
of the wisdom shown by the fathers of the American 
church in this assembly, as made by a very thoughtful 
writer in one of the first Catholic reviews in France:* 

“We are struck by the wisdom and prudence which 
characterize the decrees of this Council. . . . We here 

find evidence of that American good sense, eminently exact 
and practical, which, in dealing with lofty things, .seizes 
them principally by their positive side, and which, without 
losing sight of principles, yet adapts them to times and 
circumstances. If doctrine is greatly represented in this 
volume, mere speculation occupies but small space. Above 
everything else, the Council has aimed to be a work of 
organization. Not less remarkable for what it has not said 
than for what it has said, it seems to embody the device 
of the poet: Semper ad eventum festinat , No superfluous 
details, no useless erudition; everything bears the seal of 

pushed forward, and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness ren¬ 
dered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, 
and knowledge with knowledge. It is the place where the professor 
becomes eloquent, and a missionary and preacher of science, displaying it in 
its most complete and most winning form, pouring it forth with the zeal of 
enthusiasm, and lighting up his own love of it in the breasts of his hearers. It 
is the place where the catechist makes good his ground as he goes, treading in 
the truth day by day into the ready memory, and wedging and tightening it 
into the expanding reason. It is a place which attracts the affections of 
the young by its fame, wins the judgment of the middle-aged by its beauty, 
and rivets the memory of the old by its associations. It is a seat of wis¬ 
dom, a light of the world, a minister of the faith, an alma mater of the rising 
generation. It is this and a great deal more, and demands a somewhat 
better head and hand than mine to describe it well.”— The Office and Work 
of Universities , pp. 23-25. 

* Les Etudes Religieuses. 


318 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

legislation soberly but firmly motived, wherein nothing is 
omitted that can enlighten and convince the mind, and 
nothing is allowed to lengthen what should be short, or 
complicate what is simple. It is a majestic monument of 
simple and severe proportions, in which art seems neg¬ 
lected, but is by no means wanting.” Much higher author¬ 
ity has also borne witness to the great wisdom manifested 
in the Baltimore Council. 

“ Many of the fathers of the Vatican Council,” says a 
well-known writer in the Catholic World , himself a member 
of that august assembly, “ seem well acquainted with our 
Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. More than once it 
has been referred to with special commendation, as having 
thoroughly seized the character of this modern age in which 
we live. And the desire was expressed that its special 
regulations, on one or two points, for the church in the 
United States, could be made universal laws for the whole 
church.” * 

Cardinal Cullen has expressed his opinion of the Second 
Plenary Council in the following letter to Archbishop 
Spalding: 

“ When last writing, I thanked you for the copy of your 
Plenary Synod, which you so kindly sent me. Since 
then I have been able to consult it frequently, and I find 
that it is a mine of every sort of knowledge necessary for an 
ecclesiastic. I congratulate you most warmly on your suc¬ 
cess in bringing out a work which cannot fail to be of the 
greatest value to the church of America, and, indeed, to 
every other church.” 

The closing ceremonies of the Council, at which the 
President of the United States assisted, were not less 
imposing than had been those of its opening. Archbishop 
Purcell, as the senior bishop by consecration of the American 
* Catholic World , April, 1870, art., “ Vatican Council." 




Catholic University . 


319 


hierarchy, delivered an address, in which he thanked the 
Legate Apostolic for the “ dignity, impartiality, and learn¬ 
ing” with which he had presided over this most important 
Council. 

In reply, Archbishop Spalding said : 

“What I have just heard—which I know expresses the 
feelings of all my venerable brethren—compensates me 
more than an hundredfold for whatever little labor I have 
undergone in preparing for this Council. I feel and say 
from my heart that I am unworthy of the eulogy which 
the partiality of my venerable brother has passed upon me. 
I can lay claim only to industry and earnestness. The true 
secret of all this, I am sure, is that I am the voice or the 
shadow of him who represents divine unity and authority 
on this earth; that I am invested, however unworthy, with 
the authority of Pius IX., through whose voice Peter 
speaks, and, through Peter, Christ. Herein consists the 
simplicity, and the beauty, and the sublimity of our faith. 
W T e are but the last link in a golden chain, the first of which 
was Peter, and he was bound to the rock, which is Christ. 
Never were the unity and the unearthly character of the 
church shown more strikingly than in this Council. Here 
we have venerable prelates from all parts of this great and 
vast Republic, some of whom have come five or six thou¬ 
sand miles—have come at my voice, because in my voice 
they recognized the voice of Peter and of Christ. They 
have come together with one heart and one soul, intent only 
on the great object of beautifying the house of God, of 
proclaiming his truth and his holiness, and of promoting 
the salvation of men. All other considerations have been 
wholly forgotten. During the two weeks of the Council, 
while we were in session from six to eight hours a day, not 
one word has been breathed on or one allusion made to 
the stirring and exciting topics of the day. .Our kingdom 


320 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


is not of this world ; we have higher aims—glory to God in 
the highest, peace on earth to men of good-will. 

“ We came together to devise ways and means to carry 
out the purpose for which Christ died on the cross—to save 
men, to bind them together in unity and charity, and to 
make them lead holy lives. Absorbed in this great object, 
we have soared far above the region of storms and clouds, 
into the pure atmosphere of God, where no controversy or 
contention is stirred up by human passion ; and men, sprung 
from various nations, have in this Council lost sight of all 
differences of nationality and temperament,*and have been 
blended into that beautiful unity and harmony which the 
Catholic Church alone can exhibit.” 

The fathers of the Second Plenary Council found that 
the rapid growth of the church justified them in petitioning 
the Holy See to erect fifteen new dioceses and vicariates 
apostolic in the United States. The decrees were sent to 
Rome, where they were submitted to the most thorough 
examination, and a few slight corrections, partly verbal— 
coserelle, Father Perrone called them—having been made, 
they received the solemn sanction of the Holy Father, and 
became the ecclesiastical law of the United States. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. 

the close of this last solemn gathering of the 
American bishops, I may be permitted to pause 
a moment, and to consider whether the past and 
present condition of the church in the United 
States may not throw some light upon what her future is 
to be. 

The history of the American church contains lessons of 
the greatest value, not only to ourselves, but it is also full 
of the deepest interest to Catholics throughout the world. 
It is the opinion of many thoughtful observers, both in the 
church and outside of it, in this country and abroad, that 
our position with regard to the state and society, and, to a 
certain extent, the mutual relations of the clergy and laity 
as they here exist, are destined to extend far beyond the 
limits of our own country, and possibly to become universal. 
The question is not at all whether this state of things is the 
best ; the enquiry turns upon facts, not upon principles. 

The tendency of modern social movements is to give 
greater power and a wider sphere of action to the people. 
The reactions which from time to time, with varying suc¬ 
cess, seek to arrest this tendency, only make its force the 
more manifest. The masses of the people are being edu¬ 
cated now as they have never been before, and the govern¬ 
ments of Christendom, willingly or unwillingly, are turning 
their chief attention to the helping on of this educational 
movement. Universal suffrage is another form in which 
this tendency of the age seeks expression. 




322 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


Again, the qualified independence of church and state is, 
it would seem, destined to become a feature in the phase of 
social existence upon which we are entering. 

Now, men ask themselves, Can the old church live in this 
new world which seems to be growing up around her ? 

They who lose sight of her supernatural character give, 
for various reasons, a negative answer to this question. The 
old Protestant theory, that the church is a political machine, 
the creation of kings and emperors, beneath the shadow of 
whose thrones alone it is capable of working satisfactorily, 
still has its advocates, though, intellectually, they are of little 
importance. There are, nevertheless, men who would fain 
persuade themselves that the Catholic Church in the nine¬ 
teenth century is a fossil, whose lifelessness only the dim 
light of the sanctuary can conceal. Bring it out, they say, 
into the free atmosphere of liberty, and into the bright 
light of universal intelligence, and, like some long-buried 
corpse which seems well preserved when first brought to 
view, but when exposed to the air crumbles to dust, it will 
be no more. 

Then, the pantheistic evolutionist view of history, which 
very generally underlies all the non-Catholic thought of the 
day, gives to its advocates other reasons for thinking that 
the church of the past cannot be that of the future. 

Religious beliefs are, in their eyes, but the necessary 
results of given psychical and physical conditions of life. 
When these conditions change, faith is modified ; when 
they pass away, the particular beliefs to which they gave 
birth die. Now, they say, modern nations are entering 
upon a new era, socially and politically; general causes are 
evolving effects hitherto unreached ; and, as the result of all 
this, the religious faith of mankind must necessarily undergo 
a radical change. 

Many Catholics, too, whilst anticipating the new order 


The Past , the Present, and the Future . 323 

of things, yet have unfavorable forebodings as to what the 
effect upon the general prosperity of the church may be ; for 
God has certainly left the worldly condition of the church 
subject in part to natural causes. 

The church in this country has now for three-quarters 
of a century been placed in contact with the new order of 
things, and in circumstances admirably suited to test her real 
vitality. And as a sequel to the light thrown upon her 
present condition by the Second Plenary Council of Balti¬ 
more, it may not be out of place to examine briefly what 
her progress has been, and to consider whether it is real or 
merely apparent. The question whether or not thus far we 
have numerically lost more than we have gained is, in this 
connection, altogether of minor importance. 

That, to confine ourselves to the period in which the 
hierarchy has been in existence here, we have lost in num¬ 
bers by very far more than we have gained, is, if I may 
express my opinion, beyond all doubt.* But the causes of 
this are manifest. They are accidental, have already to a 
great extent disappeared, and must day by day become 
more and more inactive; so that the number of those who 
are here lost to the faith is, in proportion to the Catholic 
population of the country, continually decreasing, whilst 
the number of converts each year grows larger. 

The great problem which we had to solve was whether 
or not a vigorous but yet orderly and obedient Catholicity 
could be established in this democratic country, where 

* We may, I think, safely accept the opinion of Bishop England, that, 
during the first twenty years after the erection of the see of Baltimore, 
though there was an increase of congregations,yet there was a vast total loss 
of Catholics to the church. He estimated the Catholics of the two Carolinas, in 
1832, at ten thousand, whereas he thought fifty thousand of the entire popu¬ 
lation of the two States were the descendants of Catholics; and he did not 
think his diocese in this respect an exception, though in this he was proba¬ 
bly mistaken. 


324 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

what are called the principles of modern civilization had 
found their highest practical expression. 

The outlook was by no means flattering to sanguine 
hopes. 

The public sentiment of the country was adverse, and, 
though Catholics were tolerated, it was only because their 
toleration formed part of a system which was a necessity, 
and because they were too much despised to be feared. 

In 1785, when Dr. Carroll submitted to the Propaganda 
a statement of the condition of the church in the United 
States, he computed the whole Catholic population at 
twenty-five thousand. The number of priests was but 
twenty-five. A schismatical spirit existed both among the 
clergy and the laity. 

“ Every day,” says Dr. Carroll, “ furnishes me with new 
reflections, and almost every day produces new events to 
alarm my conscience and excite fresh solicitude at the 
prospect before me. You cannot conceive the trouble 
which I suffer already, and the still greater which I foresee 
from the medley of clerical characters, coming from differ¬ 
ent quarters and of various educations, and seeking em¬ 
ployment here. I cannot avoid employing some of them, 
and they begin soon to create disturbances.” * 

In New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, selfish and in¬ 
subordinate priests, instead of promoting union and charity 
among the people, sowed the seeds of discord and scandal. 
A deplorable schism occurred in New Orleans in 1805, and, 
when the diocese was committed to Bishop Dubourg, he 
was without priests or means to advance religion; and 
finally, after having encountered many difficulties, he 
retired to St. Louis. 

In South Carolina, the progress of the church was dis¬ 
turbed by miserable dissensions. In Charleston, though 
* Letter to Plowden, 1789. 


The Past, the Present , and the Future . 


the number of Catholics increased by immigration, yet all 
real advance in religion was prevented by these scandals. 
In 1809, but three Catholics, it is said, received the Easter 
communion in that city. A small colony of Catholics from 
Maryland had settled in Georgia; but the priest who had 
charge of them grew negligent, and finally apostatized. 

The ill-regulated system of trusteeism was another source 
of constant disturbances, and seemed at times to threaten 
to disorganize the church, which, still in its infancy, had so 
many other enemies to contend with. The trustees not 
unfrequently sought to extend their power over bishop, 
priest, and church. The Catholic laity, following the 
example of Protestants, seemed to be upon the point of 
demanding that the administration of church affairs should 
be given into their hands, and that the clergy should 
become their servants, ready to perform religious services 
in the manner which they should dictate. This evil contin¬ 
ued to be a source of scandals and schisms for many years, 
and undoubtedly estranged great numbers from the church. 
There was also danger lest it should serve as a pretext for 
the intermeddling of the civil authority with church pro¬ 
perty and other ecclesiastical affairs. Then a vast Catholic 
immigration began to pour into a country where the church 
was hardly able to struggle with the difficulties by which it 
was already surrounded. It was, of course, impossible at 
once to provide for the religious wants of this new popula¬ 
tion. These immigrants spread over the country, and very 
frequently settled where there was no church and no priest. 

In such cases, they were necessarily deprived of the sacra¬ 
ments, and their children grew up without religious instruc¬ 
tions. The few priests who were laboring on the missions 
were'forced to confine their efforts chiefly to the cities and 
principal towns, in which the great body of the Catholics 
lived. It is also worthy of remark, that many of these early 


326 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

missionaries spoke English very imperfectly; whilst they 
were but little acquainted with the habits and customs of 
the people amongst whom they were called to labor. Then 
there was no such thing as Catholic education; and for a 
long time, the only Catholic schools which existed, with the 
exception of a few colleges and academies, were of the most 
wretched kind. Indeed, I think I may be permitted to say 
that it is comparatively of recent date that many thoughtful 
and observant minds in the church of this country have com¬ 
prehended the all-importance of Catholic education. Other 
agencies, too, worked against the progress of the church. 
The Catholic immigrants, who were generally extremely 
poor, suffered of course many hardships and great exposure 
to the rigors of a climate which was not their own. This 
increased the mortality amongst them, and, in consequence, 
numbers of orphans, for whom the church was unable to 
provide, yearly fell into the hands of Protestants, to be 
brought up by them in their own faith. We may add to 
this, that the very people to whom, above all others, the 
church in this country is indebted, met with special diffi¬ 
culties in the accomplishment of their God-given mission. 
How this should seemingly have proved an obstacle to the 
advance of Catholicity in the United States is well stated 
by Bishop England: 

“ England has,” he says, “ unfortunately, too, well suc¬ 
ceeded in linking contumely to their name [the Irish] in all 
her colonies; and, though the United States have cast away 
the yoke under which she held them, many other causes 
combined to continue against the Irish Catholic, more or less 
to the present day, the sneer of the supercilious, the contempt 
of the conceited, and the dull prosing of those who imagine 
themselves wise. That which more than a century of fashion 
has made habitual is not to be overcome in a year; and to 
any Irish Catholic who has dwelt in this country during one- 


The Pasty the Presenty and the Future . 327 

fourth of the period of my sojourn, it will be painfully evi¬ 
dent that, although the evil is slowly diminishing, its influ¬ 
ence is not confined to the American nor to the anti-Catho- 
lic. When a race is once degraded, however unjustly, it is 
a weakness of our nature that, however we may be identi¬ 
fied with them upon some points, we are desirous of showing 
that the similitude is not complete. You may be an Irish¬ 
man, but not a Catholic; you may be Catholic, but not 
Irish. It is clear you are not an Irish Catholic in either 
case!!! But when the great majority of Catholics in the 
United States were either Irish or of Irish descent, the force 
of the prejudice against the Irish Catholic bore against the 
Catholic religion in the United States; and the influence of 
this prejudice has been far more mischievous than is gener¬ 
ally believed.”* Another source of trouble was the min¬ 
gling of the various nationalities in the same congregation, 
where the prejudices and differences of custom and language 
of each became causes of antagonism and frequently of dis¬ 
sensions. This was a serious evil at a time when the church 
was struggling for a foothold on the American soil. Then 
the priests themselves belonged to four or five different 
nationalities, had been educated in various parts of the 
world, and hence upon many non-essential points did not 
think alike. The ecclesiastical organization was imperfect; 
the five or six bishops of the country, separated by great 
distances, rarely saw one another; and the individual pecu¬ 
liarities of the priests were frequently not restrained or con¬ 
trolled by a strong central government. 

All these difficulties may be said to have belonged within 
the church of this country, since they proceeded chiefly from 
the peculiar elements of which the Catholic population was 
composed. But she had to contend against other trials of 
a scarcely less serious nature. Contempt, and ignominy,, 
* Bishop England's Works, vol. iii. p. 233. 


3 2 S 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


and disgrace were coupled with the very name of Catholic 
wherever English rule had been supreme. Catholics were 

“A fixed figure for the hand of scorn 
To point its slowly moving finger at.” 

Men thought better of Turks and Jews than of us ; and the 
Sultan, in their eyes, was not so hateful as the Pope. If we 
were tolerated, it was, as I have said elsewhere, the tolera¬ 
tion of contempt. 

If the church was to triumph over all these obstacles, it 
could only be by her own innate power and vitality. She 
had nothing but God’s promise. The test could not have 
been more fairly made. Even her worst enemies could 

r 

scarcely have asked other conditions than those which were 
given her. 

Three-quarters of a century have hardly passed away 
since the hierarchy was established here, and the issue of 
the struggle is now no longer doubtful. 

The church in that time has gone steadily forward, and 
her progress has become, day by day, more real and more 
-certain. She has conquered the elements of discord and 
disturbance which threatened her young life, and to-day 
she is the most thoroughly organized and most perfectly 
united body in all this great country. And perhaps, though 
it may not be modest to say it, there cannot be found a body 
of Catholics more zealous for the faith, more self-sacrificing, 
more loyal to the Vicar of Christ, than the seven millions of 
the United States. 

Whilst freedom has acted as a solvent upon the various 
sects, which have divided and subdivided, it has only knit us 
closer together in the bonds of an unconstrained union. 
Protestantism has been pulled hither and thither by all the 
■to-and-fro conflicting opinions which spring from the teem¬ 
ing mind of our age and country, until it is a mere shred, 


The Past , the Present , and the Future. 329 

mere individualism—nihilism. It has lost control of the 
masses, and has only a sickly and sporadic existence in cater¬ 
ing to the morbid sentimentalism of the effeminate rich. So 
hopeless have its divisions become that it has ceased to 
believe in truth, and proclaims that the nearest approach to 
it is to be sought in the conflict of opposing beliefs. Having 
despaired of religious unity, it calls it an evil, and declares 
that it is better that Christians should be divided. Unable 
to formulate a single article of belief, it repudiates the very 
idea of a creed. 

In the midst of all this confusion, the Catholic Church 
remains undisturbed. The idle theories of men strike against 
her and fall hurtless at her feet. 

Archbishop Spalding, in his day, may be considered the 
best and truest representative of the oldest element in the 
church in this country—that of the Maryland colony, which 
is, I may say, coeval with Anglo-Saxon civilization in North 
America. The Puritans came with characters cast in an 
iron mould, fixed in thought, firm in purpose, and with a 
will intense in proportion to the narrowness of the type they 
represented ; the whole permeated and knit together by a 
religious enthusiasm which gave color and form to all they 
thought or did. And yet their religion is dead—their strong 
and manly faith has become in their descendants a vague 
and shifting deism, or the sickly sentimentalism of weak and 
nerve-worn natures. Puritanism, with its immense force 
and power of resistance, has been unable to withstand the 
action of time and of freedom. The children of the Catho¬ 
lics who came over with Lord Baltimore are to-day in 
religion precisely what their fathers were. They hear Mass, 
they confess their sins, tljey fast, they pray to the Blessed 
Virgin and to all the saints, they love and obey the Pope, 
and believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 
Voltaire and the Encyclopaedists have sneered, and mocked, 


330 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


and laughed. The German pantheists have, as they think, 
probed to the core, being and existence, and have shown 
that all reposes on nothing; that in the beginning was 
nothing, and that the end of each particular existence is 
nothing, and that whatever is, is only a phase of something 
that can never be. The scientists, following in their wake, 
despairing of the soul, have clutched matter, even in its 
nascent and evolutionary state, and have followed it through 
all the vagaries of form and life, from the infinitesimal to 
the infinite. Putting God and the soul aside, with the most 
reverential and religious air, as the unknowable, because they 
can neither be seen nor touched, they proceed, with perfect 
self-complacency, to create the universe. 

In the beginning was incandescent gas. In time, a por¬ 
tion was precipitated and began to whirl about most furi¬ 
ously, and other particles were caught up by it, and thus 
were formed the sun, and stars, and planets. This is very 
easily understood, since we know bodies move along the 
line of least resistance.* But as yet there was no life ; only 
a most desperate struggle for life. At length a few inani¬ 
mate particles of matter, having won the victory, organized 
and formed a corporation for life, under the express agree¬ 
ment that this corporation should evolve itself until all 
other possible forms and conditions of life should be involved 
in it. In other words, it was understood that it should be 
as voracious and heartless as a railroad or bank corporation. 
Here we have a clear and satisfactory explanation of the 
genesis and transformation of species, so that, in case we 
should not feel disposed to believe that God created man, 
we can become scientifically superstitious, and hold that 
this contentious, restless, unsatisfied little animal came of a 
particular fight which took place several million years ago 
in primordial matter, and that all things, having begun in 
* See Herbert Spencer’s First Principles , p. 204. 


The Past , the Present , and the Future, 331 

incandescent gas, are likely to end in smoke. But to be 
serious : in the science of matter, our age has made the 
most real progress. Everything has been analyzed, every 
form of matter has been peered into by the patient and 
laborious eye of the student. The secret places of the earth 
have been laid open, the “ dark, unfathomed caves of ocean” 
have been made to tell their tale, and we have learned to 
read and to understand in the earth, in the rocks, and in the 
air a language which to our fathers was meaningless. The 
practical applications of our knowledge have given us the 
means of still further discovery. Whatever anywhere is 
worth knowing may now be known everywhere. The con¬ 
tinents have been crossed, the islands have been visited, the 
rivers have been traced to their sources. Man has been 
studied in every phase of his life. The body has been 
scrutinized from the inception of its existence down to the 
last stage of decomposition, and the attempt has even been 
made to express life by a chemical formula—so many parti- 
ticles of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. Or, to 
use the profound language of Mr. Herbert Spencer, “ ani¬ 
mal life is chiefly a process of oxidation ” ; * and so is the 
rusting of iron. 

The influences that modify human existence, such as 
climate, laws, religion, have been subjected to the pitiless 
scrutiny of science ; spectrum analysis has even shown us 
the metals which are found in the sun’s photosphere. And 
now, what has been the effect of all this upon the religious 
belief of the peoples among whom this scientific develop¬ 
ment has taken place ? 

Protestants are tortured by doubt and anxiety. The pre¬ 
dominant tendency with them is towards deism or a still 
more absolute negation of religious truth. A counter- 
current, but not so strong or so marked, is bearing numbers 
* First Principles, p. 209. 


332 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

nearer to the church. Protestant thought has become abso¬ 
lutely chaotic. Hoenighaus wrote a book, in which he proved 
every Catholic dogma from the confessions of respectable 
Protestants. To-day a work might be readily composed, 
which, without going beyond the admissions of the leading 
and accredited exponents of Protestantism, would infer the 
negation of every dogma of religion. It is this hesitating, 
negative, self-contradictory nature of Protestant thought 
which has made what is called scientific infidelity so loud¬ 
mouthed, and led its devotees to believe that they can 
browbeat Christians into atheism. 

But, on the other hand, what impression have the intel¬ 
lectual and scientific achievements of which we boast made 
upon the church ? Are Catholics tortured by doubt ? Does 
a secret and ominous fear pervade the Catholic thought of 
the age, lest, perchance, science may have undermined the 
foundations of the church? Has a rationalistic and scepti¬ 
cal spirit found its way into her sanctuary ? 

Her children have, at least, followed the march of science, 
and have taken note of its conclusions, Is their faith 
shaken? No candid and thoughtful observer will give an 
affirmative answer to these questions. 

“ Many a vanished year and age, 

And tempest’s breath, and battle’s rage 
Have swept o’er Corinth ; yet she stands. 

The whirlwind’s wrath, the earthquake’s shock, 

Have left untouched her hoary rock, 

The landmark to the double tide, 

That purpling rolls on either side, 

As if their waters chafed to meet. 

Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.” 

“ Our great antagonist—I speak as a man of science— 
says Professor Huxley, “ the Roman Catholic Church, the 


The Past , the Present , and the Future . 333 

one great spiritual organization which is able to resist, and 
must, as a matter of life and death, resist, the progress of 
science and modern civilization, manages her affairs much 
better.” * 

The church is able to resist the progress of science, the 
Professor thinks, because science has been unable to find a 
weak point in the citadel in which God has placed her ; or, 
possibly, because she is not frightened, when Mr. Darwin 
writes a new book, or Mr. Tyndall proposes to test the 
medicinal properties of prayer. 

The tendency of science must necessarily be to strength¬ 
en the faith of men in the universality of law, of method, 
and of purpose ; and, consequently, in the existence of an 
ever-present, all-wise, beneficent Being. Now, as long as 
men continue to believe in God, they will believe in Chris¬ 
tianity, which finds its full and legitimate expression in the 
Catholic Church alone. Thus far, at least, she has seen no 
reason to reverse the sentence which Julian the Apostate, as 
he took in his hand his heart's blood and cast it against 
heaven, spoke with dying lips: “Jesus of Nazareth, thou 
hast conquered.” 

After all, what is called science can never draw an abso¬ 
lute conclusion ; it can deal only with relations, and with 
these merely in their physical manifestations. Its mate¬ 
rial hand can never grasp the life of the soul in itself and in 
God; and its influence upon faith must come rather from 
its practical applications and discoveries than from any 
principles which it is able to establish. Now, in no country 
in the world have the results of science been applied so gen¬ 
erally or with such success as in ours. 

What has been the effect upon Catholic faith ? The 
children of the church, untainted by popular unbelief, 
gather around her in serried ranks, and hold out to her the 
* Lay Sermons, p. 61. 


334 


Life of Archbishop Spalding ,; 


helping hands of sympathy and love. Any danger that 
might once have seemed imminent of the alienation of the 
laity from the clergy has passed away, and to-day in no 
country in the world are priest and people more truly 
united than here. Parochial schools, in charge of Catholic 
Brothers and Sisters, are everywhere springing up, and the 
number of children who receive thorough religious training 
is yearly becoming larger in a ratio far greater than that of 
the increase of the Catholic population. In some dioceses, 
indeed, it may be said that already Catholic children are 
educated in Catholic schools. 

When we educate our own children, we may safely for 
the rest leave the issue of our cause to God. The number 
of orphans who are lost to the church is diminishing in pro¬ 
portion to the increase of Catholic protectories, industrial 
schools, and asylums. What has hitherto been the chief 
obstacle to the progress of the church—the want of priests 
—has, in a great measure, ceased to be. At the close of the 
War of Independence, there were not more than twenty- 
five priests in the United States. In 1800, there were sup¬ 
posed to be forty. In 1830, there were two hundred and 
thirty-two priests in the Republic, and some of these had 
been gained by the cession of Louisiana to the United 
States. In 1848, there were eight hundred and ninety. In 
1861, the number had grown to two thousand three hun¬ 
dred and seventeen; and in 1872, to four thousand eight 
hundred and nine. The increase in the number of churches 
has kept pace with that of the priesthood. There can be 
but little doubt that, by the end of this century, we shall 
have the most numerous episcopate, and one of the most 
numerous bodies of priests, of any country in the world. In 
1808, there was but a single bishop in the United States; 
to-day, there are sixty-five dioceses and vicariates apostolic 
within its limits. In 1800, there were but two convents in 


The Pasty the Present , and the Future. 335 


the United States; to-day, there are over three hundred 
and fifty female religious institutions, and probably one hun¬ 
dred and thirty for men.* 

As above stated, Dr. Carroll, in 1785, reckoned the Catho¬ 
lic population of this country at twenty-five thousand. 

“ Upon my first arrival in the United States, in 1820,” 
says Bishop England, “ I saw in a public document, coming 
from a respectable source, the estimate to be one hundred 
thousand, and this favorable, and from a gentleman by no 
means unfriendly.” f In 1832, he estimated the Catholic 
population of the country at half a million. “ I have since 
then,” he writes in 1836, “ made more close enquiries, taken 
more special notice of details, and received better informa¬ 
tion ; and I think the estimate may be safely fixed at one 
million two hundred thousand.” $ Within the last thirty 
years, opinions widely differing have at various times been 
advanced as to our Catholic population ; and it is to be 
much regretted that in this matter, which is of the greatest 
interest, we are still to such an extent left to mere conjec¬ 
ture. However, from the data which we have, we are pro¬ 
bably not unwarranted in the statement that there are at 
present in the United States not less than seven millions of 
Catholics. The influence of the church upon non-Catholics 
is also constantly increasing, if we may be allowed to judge 
from the number of conversions. In a letter dated Febru¬ 
ary 19, 1868, Archbishop Spalding writes: “The precise 
number of converts whom I have confirmed since the fall of 
I864—that is, in less than three years and a half—is fourteen 
hundred and thirteen! The total number confirmed in the 
same period is eleven thousand four hundred and eighty- 

* I of course do not include in this estimate Catholic colleges and acade¬ 
mies. 

f Works , vol. iii. p. 227. 

\ Works, ibid. 


336 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

two ; consequently, over twelve per cent, of those confirmed 
were converts.” * 

The proportion of converts in the diocese of Louisville 
was but little below that just given for Maryland. What 
the proportion may be elsewhere, I have no means of ascer¬ 
taining; but, unless we are to consider these two dioceses 
in this respect exceptional, it is evident that these accessions 
to the church form one of the most important elements of 
her strength, besides proving, in a way which does not admit 
of reply, that between her and what the best and noblest in 
this great nation would aspire to there is no opposition. 
The question whether or not the Catholic Church, unaided 
by the state and opposed by popular prejudice, with nothing 
but common rights under the common law, can maintain 
herself and wax strong under a free government, in which 
the most advanced modern principles, as Americans under¬ 
stand them, have been reduced to practice, is not now, if it 
ever was, doubtful. 

* In five years, he confirmed 22,209 persons, of whom 2,752 were*converts— 
about 1234 per cent, of the whole number. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


THE EMANCIPATED SLAVES—THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION 
SOCIETY—THE CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. 
PETER. 


N the spring of 1867, Archbishop Spalding visited 
Europe for the first time in fifteen years. The 
Holy Father had invited the bishops of the- 
Catholic world to be present at the centenary 
celebration of the martyrdom of St. Peter, and, as his health 
was not good, he determined not to deny himself the plea¬ 
sure of visiting, possibly for the last time, the shrines of 
the apostles. 

In making the necessary preparations for leaving home, 
he overworked himself, and was, in consequence, taken dan¬ 
gerously ill. For several days, his physicians thought he 
could not recover, and, indeed, he seemed to be just hoven- 
ing between life and death. The announcement of his illness- 
drew forth expressions of sympathy, which proved how 
warmly he was beloved, not only by his own people, but by 
thousands of Catholics everywhere, and even Protestants. 
The enterprising press had already received intelligence of 
his death, and, on the day on which he sailed for Europe, he 
had the unusual pleasure of reading his own obituary. 

In the pastoral letter which he addressed to his people 
before leaving home, he alludes to this illness, which came 
upon him whilst engaged in writing it. 

“We had proceeded thus far/’ he says, “ when, in the 
mysterious providence of God, we were stricken down by an 
illness which warned us to prepare for a longer journey ; and 
though God gave us, we humbly trust, a suitable measure 






338 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

of resignation, yet he was pleased to listen to the prayers 
of our faithful people, and to grant us a longer tenure of 
life. What was refused to our great patron of Tours and 
his disciples was granted to us, who had but begun our 
career, had done well-nigh nothing, and were not prepared 
to die. Coming up from the brink of the tomb, with, we 
trust, a deeper sense of our responsibility and clearer lights 
as to the duties we owe to the flock committed to our 
charge, we now address to you before leaving the few but 
grave reflections on three points of vital importance to the 
interests of religion in the archdiocese, which we had in our 
minds and hearts in beginning this pastoral.” 

The three subjects to which he alludes are the instruction 
of the emancipated slaves, the Catholic Publication Society, 
and the St. Mary’s Industrial School. One of the first things 
he had done after his arrival in Baltimore was to give his 
hearty approval to the work which Dr. O’Connor was doing 
in seeking to build up a negro congregation in that city. 

“ There is no respect of persons,” he said, “ with God. 
True to the spirit of this maxim, the Holy Catholic Church 
has never known any distinction of color or race in her 
heavenly ministrations for the salvation of all whom Christ, 
her divine founder, has redeemed.” 

We have already seen how anxious he was that the 
Second Plenary Council should devise some practical means 
for bringing the emancipated slaves within the influence of 
the church. He now urges the pastors of his archdiocese to 
put forth every effort of enlightened zeal to secure to them 
the blessing of Christian instruction. He desires that sepa¬ 
rate schools be established for them ; “ since,” he says, 
“ experience proves how difficult it is to impart religious 
instruction to those who cannot read.” He wishes also to 
see more churches built for their use, especially in the cities 
where they are most needed. 


The Emancipated Slaves. 


339 


“ We must say,” he continues, “ to the credit of our col¬ 
ored children, that they have been invariably liberal and 
generous, in proportion to their means, in aiding in the 
establishment of schools and churches for their benefit. 
This has been abundantly proved in the case of a church in 
Washington, and of six or seven colored schools which have 
been recently established in the archdiocese. The pastors 
who will determine to labor zealously in their behalf will 
always find them willing co-operators.’’ 

He still further shows his interest in this matter by mani¬ 
festing his intention to organize a regular system of missions 
for the special advantage of this portion of his flock—a pro¬ 
ject which he afterwards succeeded in putting into execu¬ 
tion. Indeed, to the end of his life the spiritual welfare of 
his colored children, as he called them, was one of the things 
nearest his heart. 

In the fall of 1870, he invited all the white Catholic 
societies of Baltimore to assist at the laying of the corner¬ 
stone of St. Francis’ School and Orphan Asylum for colored 
children; and when, at his request, they had all joined in 
the procession and ceremonies, he spoke to them in the fol¬ 
lowing words, which are so characteristic of his warm and 
gentle nature: 

“ My dearly beloved Children: My heart bounds with 
joy on this happy occasion, and my heart but re-echoes the 
voice of the Holy Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is 
of all nations, of all colors, of all peoples ! There is no 
distinction of color with God, and there is none with the 
Catholic Church. Forty years ago, when I was a student at 
Rome, there were two colored students in the same college 
with myself, and one of them was my particular friend. 
The Catholic Church makes no distinction among its chil¬ 
dren ; and I rejoice to see Germans, and Irish, and Ameri¬ 
cans here to-day, carrying out the true spirit of the church. 


340 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


. . . There are no parties in heaven. I want all my 

children—Irish, German, American, African—I want them 
all to go to heaven; and I trust that all those who are not 
yet on the road to that happy place will put themselves on 
the right path. There are many good people outside of our 
church, and I want them all to go to heaven.” 

Several years previous to this, at the request of Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding, two missionaries had been sent to this 
country by the Holy See, to devote themselves exclusively 
to the spiritual welfare of the emancipated slaves; and 
their labors had been crowned with great success. 

The fathers of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore 
invite, in the name of God’s mercy, all priests who may be 
able to do so to devote themselves wholly to this great 
work; and they also beg of the Superiors of religious 
orders to place some of their members at the disposal of 
the bishops, that they may assign them to the mission of 
evangelizing the liberated slaves of the Southern States.** 

The chief difficulty which prevented the success of this 
work was the dearth of priests, especially in those States 
which had large negro populations. 

In 1870, Pius IX. directed the priests of St. Joseph’s 
Society for Foreign Missions—a community established by 
the Rev. Herbert Vaughan, at Mill Hill, near London—to 
devote themselves to the work of evangelizing the emanci¬ 
pated slaves in the United States. 

Having communicated this fact to Archbishop Spalding, 
Dr. Vaughan received from him the following reply: 

“Your letter has filled my heart with joy. I was quite 
ill when I received it, but it contributed greatly to my con¬ 
valescence, and I am now nearly well. Please come at once 
to examine the ground and to make all necessary arrange¬ 
ments for the new colony. 

* Con. Plen. Secund., No. 488. 


The Emancipated Slaves . 


34i 


“ As Baltimore is the natural and most appropriate point 
for the mother-house of any institution for the benefit of 
the colored people, whence it may send forth branches 
throughout the entire South, you should, I think, begin 
here. 

“ In three counties of Maryland, there are sixteen thou¬ 
sand Catholic negroes. . . .You have here a field of 

action already prepared. ... I have some sixty acres 
of good land which I propose to give you, with an ample 
house, which, with some repairs, might well suit for an 
humble beginning; and in such works, God blesses hum¬ 
ble beginnings.” 

When, in response to this invitation, Dr. Vaughan, accom¬ 
panied by four missionaries, arrived in Baltimore, in Decem¬ 
ber, 1871, just two months before Archbishop Spalding’s 
death, he received from him the following letter of welcome : 

“ Dear Father Vaughan : Permit me to welcome you 
and the four young men whom you bring with you, to labor 
in behalf of the colored people of the United States. The 
Archdiocese of Baltimore receives you with open arms, and 
I have not a doubt that you will be welcomed with similar 
cordiality by my venerable colleagues throughout the coun¬ 
try. . . . Deriving, as you do, your mission to our 

colored people directly from the Holy Apostolic See, you 
cannot fail to be blessed by God; and in spite of the diffi¬ 
culties and trials which attend all great enterprises for his 
glory and the salvation of souls, and which you may there¬ 
fore reasonably expect, you will succeed. 

“ With your headquarters for the present in Baltimore, you 
will be able, with God’s help and the fostering encourage¬ 
ment of the respective ordinaries, to extend your labors 
gradually and successively throughout the entire South, and 
thus to reap an abundant harvest of souls redeemed by the 
precious blood of Christ.” 


342 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


The day before his death, I heard him say, in reference to 
this mission, that it was one of the things which he had 
asked God to let him see established in his diocese before 
he died. 

It is also, in part, to his aid and encouragement that the 
colored Catholics of Louisville, his old episcopal city, are 
indebted for their church. Another subject to which Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding referred in the pastoral letter above men¬ 
tioned was the Catholic Publication Society of New York, 
founded by the Very Rev. I. T. Hecker. He had advocated 
the establishment of a society of this kind as far back as 
1854. In a letter to Archbishop Kenrick, written in the 
month of May of that year, he thus refers to the matter: 
“ Whilst the Methodists and other sectarians have their 
vast book-concerns and all-pervading tract organizations, it 
is a shame that we children of the light should be so inert. 
Let a Catholic institute be established, with its headquarters 
in Baltimore, the bishops all to be honorary members, and 
Dr. Ives to be Secretary, charged with the publication of 
books and tracts. I think we might do something to cope 
with the vast and, humanly speaking, perfect organization of 
those who fight in the camp of Satan. I know there are 
difficulties in the way of carrying out this project; but they 
grow chiefly out of our own inertness and want of zeal, and 
could be overcome by a little determination. Iihprobus 
omnia vincit labor.” When Father Hecker at length under¬ 
took the work, Archbishop Spalding gave him his hearty 
sympathy and efficient aid; and he himself wrote the first 
tract of the series begun by the Catholic Publication Society. 
This attempt to organize for the purpose of disseminating 
cheap Catholic literature was not new in the history of the 
church in the United States. In 1827, Archbishop Hughes, 
at that time a young priest, made an effort to found a Tract 
Society in Philadelphia, for which he wrote the Conversion 


The Catholic Publication Society. 343 

and Edifying Death of Andrew Dunn , one of his first essays 
in the field of literature. “ The success of Andrew Dunn," 
says his biographer, “ was much greater than that of the 
project from which it sprang. It seems to have been the 
first fruit and the last of the association for the purpose of 
circulating cheap controversial tracts, from which so much 
was expected.” * 

In 1829, the fathers of the First Provincial Council of 
Baltimore, at the instance of Pope Leo XII., resolved to 
form an association for the dissemination of Catholic books, f 
In accordance with this resolution, the Metropolitan Press 
was founded, which continued in operation for several years, 
and undoubtedly did good, but never came up to the idea 
of a Catholic publication society. Another association of 
this kind was begun in 1839, an d was called the Catholic 
Tract Society of Baltimore. It continued its publications 
for five or six years, and, according to Dr. White, “ de¬ 
serves honorable mention, as having produced some of 
the best essays that we possess in vindication of the true 
faith.” i 

When Archbishop Spalding was appointed by the Holy 
Father to preside over the Second Plenary Council of Balti¬ 
more, he invited Father Hecker to lay before the bishops 
his views with regard to the Catholic Publication Society, 
which he had just founded ; and he caused special mention 
to be made of this association in the matters which he had 
prepared for conciliary deliberation; and in the pastoral let¬ 
ter issued after the close of the Council, it was earnestly 
recommended to the Catholics of the United States. 

Upon the eve of starting for Europe, in 1867, Archbishop 
Spalding exhorted all pastors of souls in his archdiocese to 

* Life of Archbishop Hughes, p. 83. 

f Vide decret. 35, in General Collection of Baltimore Councils. 

j: Appendix to Darras' Church History , p. 653. 


344 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


establish auxiliary societies, in order to aid the parent 
society by helping to diffuse its publications. He recom¬ 
mended, however, that these organizations should be of the 
simplest character, and thought that in many cases it would 
be found expedient to combine them with religious and 
charitable institutions already in existence. 

“ We cannot but believe,” he concludes, “ that the zeal 
of our devoted people will be at once and fully awakened 
to the importance of this subject; and that, under the 
guidance of their worthy pastors, they will thus be enabled 
to counteract much evil, and to promote the cause of divine 
truth. The machinery through which the Holy Catholic 
Church has been accustomed to work in moving vast masses 
of men has always been so grand, simple, effective, and 
silently sublime in its operation that Catholics have, in too 
many cases, so implicitly trusted to its workings as not to 
deem their own individual co-operation necessary. On the 
contrary, those outside the church who would seem to have 
had no such implicit trust in the divine character of their 
church organizations, have brought more fully into play the 
human elements of zeal, activity, and generosity of contri¬ 
butions, and have thereby succeeded in accomplishing what 
would seem, from their reports, to denote great results. 
Their zeal and generosity in promoting what they regard as 
most useful and beneficial, however mistaken their views, 
should put us to the blush, unless we go and do likewise 
in the sacred cause of truth, as bequeathed to us by our 
fathers in the faith.” 

Having made every arrangement for the proper adminis¬ 
tration of his diocese during his absence, Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding sailed from New York on the 4th of May, in the French 
steamer Pcreire. He was still very feeble, and his friends 
had the most serious fears for his health. Indeed, many of 
.them did not expect ever to see him again this side the 


Centenary of the Martyrdom of St. Peter . 345 

grave ; but, as he himself said, his hour had not yet come, 
and much still remained for him to do. He suffered greatly 
on the voyage, and was still quite ill when he landed at 
Havre. In Paris, where he remained for a few days, he 
grew no better, and, by the advice of his physicians, he went 
to Vichy, to try the waters. Three weeks* stay here did 
him some good ; and he started for Rome on the 10th of 
June. It had been his intention before leaving home to 
visit the Holy Land, and he had written to a friend in Rome, 
asking him to obtain permission for him to be absent from 
his diocese long enough to make this journey; adding that, 
without the express permission of the Holy Father, he 
should not think his pilgrimage had God’s blessing. His 
sickness, however, took from him alt thought of being able 
to gratify this pious desire. In Lyons, he visited the ven¬ 
erable Cardinal De Bonald, who was then over eighty years 
of age. In Italy, he was greatly distressed by the many 
evidences he saw of the sacrileges committed by the Gov¬ 
ernment of Victor Emanuel. In Bologna, he went to the 
beautiful church of St. P'rancis to say Mass, and found that 
it had been turned into a warehouse for carriages and har¬ 
ness. The marble altar was covered with all manner of 
rubbish. He told the superintendent of the place that 
God’s curse would fall on the sacrilegious government of 
Italy. He had a Western way of speaking right out what¬ 
ever he thought without any special regard to consequences, 
and, when travelling in Europe, took advantage of every 
opportunity that presented itself to give the apostate Catho¬ 
lics of France and Italy, to use his own words, a piece of 
his mind. These renegadoes were about the only class of 
men of whom he ever spoke with bitterness. In passing 
through the cities and towns of Italy, he never failed to visit 
the shrines of the saints, and, when possible, to say Mass at 
the altars where their relics were kept. At Assisi, he went 


346 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

to confession and received communion, as he was too unwell 
to say Mass in the church of St. Francis. He arrived in 
Rome in time to assist at the grand celebration of the eigh¬ 
teen hundredth anniversary of the martyrdom of Saints 
Peter and Paul. Five hundred bishops and not less than 
twenty thousand priests took part in the ceremonies. Rome 
had never beheld anything more imposing. But once before 
in eighteen hundred years had she seen so many prelates 
gathered within her walls ; and never before, I believe, in 
the whole history of the church had so many priests assem¬ 
bled in one place. The celebration began on the evening 
• of the 28th of June, with the illumination of the dome of 
St. Peter’s. In the stillness of an Italian midsummer’s 
night, fifty thousand pilgrims, gathered from the whole 
earth, looked up to this of earthly sights the most divinely 
beautiful; and, as it sank into their souls, awakening thoughts 
of all the heavenly things they hoped for, they felt that, after 
all, it was but a feeble image of that pillar of light which it 
symbolized, and which God had set up in the world to be 
the beacon to their souls’ faith when all else was dark and 
doubtful. On the morrow, when Italy’s sun had just begun 
to tip that dome with gold, all blushing, as if it felt itself 
powerless to recall the magic scene, the fifty thousand that 
had stood without were within St. Peter’s “ ark of worship 
undefiled.” The light of day was shut out by crimson cur¬ 
tains, which, when a puff of wind blew them aside, let in the 
momentary sunbeams, as if God’s angels were peeping 
through. Then thirty thousand tapers sprang into life, and 
threw their varying lights over the upturned faces of the 
vast multitude, where cardinals, bishops, priests, kings, 
princes, and people were one in the union of a faith that 
is fixed. 

In the centre of the nave hung an inverted colossal cross 
of prisms of glass, transfigured with light, above it the keys, 


Centenary of the Martyrdom of St. Peter. 


347 


and still higher gleamed the Papal tiara. And now, Pius 
IX., his countenance illumined by that smile which is des¬ 
tined to become a tradition, is borne along on his chair of 
state to the pontifical throne. He, the visible head of a 
church whose children for eighteen hundred years, when 
nothing else remained to be done, have known how to die, 
and through death to rise to a higher life, even on earth, is 
about to place on the divine roll of honor the names of 
twenty-five of those martyr-heroes. 

In those rich, clear-cut tones which millions have heard, 
he invokes the assistance of Heaven in the Veni Creator Spi- 
ritus, and then solemnly pronounces that these holy mar¬ 
tyrs are God’s saints, and as such are to be honored and 
reverenced by all his children. The silver trumpets in the 
dome sing out the glad tidings to heaven, the cannon of St. 
Angelo re-echo them to earth, and from all the seven hills 
of the great city, in notes deep and high, in tones silver and 
golden, that quiver with joy, that languish with love, the 
glad announcement is made. The Pope intones the Te 
Deum: “ We praise thee, O God ! We glorify thee, O 
Lord !” And as his words die away, fifty thousand voices 
take them up, and, with a power that seems to lift that 
whole multitude almost to the very throne of God, shout 
out, with a noise like that of many waters : “ Thee, Eternal 
Father, the whole earth adores ! To thee, the angels all; to 
thee, the heavens and the universal powers; to thee, the 
cherubim and seraphim, with unceasing voice, speak ! Holy, 
holy, holy!” And as the sound dies away, the soul sinks 
back upon itself, fainting, overpowered by the too great 
manifestation of God’s beauty and strength. 

It was at this meeting of the bishops that Pius IX. an¬ 
nounced his intention of holding an oecumenical council at 
as early a date as possible. 

During his stay of two weeks in Rome, Archbishop Spal- 


348 Life of Archbishop Spalding, 

ding had three interviews with the Pope, from whom he 
received great marks of esteem and affection. 

At the Propaganda, there was a grand reunion dinner of 
the old students, amongst whom were twenty-five cardinals, 
patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops. At this celebration, 
in which part was taken by men from the furthest orient 
and the extreme west of the New World—men of every shade 
and color, of every tribe and tongue, for whom the Catholic 
Church was the only possible point of union—Archbishop 
Spalding met many of his old friends and companions with 
whom he had in early youth walked upright before God in 
the pleasant ways of virtue and knowledge ; and, when he 
now looked upon the silvered heads and bent forms around 
him, he felt that the night was coming on apace, and that 
soon they should meet again in the home of Him for 
whom they had left father and mother, and all that the 
world loves. All Catholics feel at home in Rome, or were 
wont to feel so when their Father lived in freedom there. 
But Archbishop Spalding’s love for the Holy City was 
remarkable. In his early youth, he had looked to her as 

“The fount at which the panting mind assuages 
Her thirst of knowledge, quaffing there her fill.” 

And when, during his severe illness, shortly after his first 
arrival in Rome, he thought that he was to die there, and 
that there his bones were to lie buried, he rejoiced and 
thanked God. His greatest grief, when that sickness lin¬ 
gered and threatened to prevent him from continuing his 
studies, was the thought that he should return home with¬ 
out having received a thorough Roman education. Even 
bad health had no power to sadden or discourage his young 
soul, which seemed to forget itself whilst breathing in the 
supernatural world of religion by which it was surrounded. 
With Rome were associated his earliest and proudest 


Centenary of the Martyrdom of St. Peter. 349 

triumphs—victories the most glorious, because won when 
the dull world has not yet deadened the heart and shown 
it that it is all of no use; that all earthly victories end in 
defeat, and are marked by funeral monuments. 

In Rome, he had met many of the men whom he had 
most loved and most venerated, whose services to him he 
thought of priceless value; and he had a long memory for 
benefits received. These sacred associations, hallowed by 
time, all united to strengthen his love for the centre of 
Christendom, the mother of all the churches, Rome—• 

u Parent of our religion ! whom the wide 

Nations have knelt to for the keys of heaven ! 

Europe, repentant of her parricide, 

Shall yet redeem thee, and, all backward driven, 

Roll the barbarian tide, and sue to be forgiven 

But the heat of midsummer was already upon the Sacred 
City, and Archbishop Spalding, who was still suffering, was 
forced to hasten away. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


TRAVELS IN EUROPE—IRELAND — PROGRESS OF* THE 
CHURCH IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE—THE 
AMERICAN COLLEGE IN ROME. 



In 


FTER leaving Rome, Archbishop Spalding visited 
Loretto, and said Mass in the Holy House, to 
satisfy his devotion to her whom he loved to 
call his sweet Mother. 

Padua, he visited the tomb of St. Anthony, and 


thence turned his steps to Venice, where 


“ Tasso’s echoes are no more, 

And silent rows the songless gondolier.” 

Each of the four times he went to Europe he travelled 
through Italy, and each time he beheld with new delight 
her marvellous treasures of religion and art. With Ariosto, 
he might have said : 

“ Visto ho Toscana, Lombardia, Romagna, 

Quel monte che divide, el quel che serra 
Italia, e un mare et l’altro che la bagna.” » 

In Milan, he said Mass on the tomb of St. Charles Bor- 
romeo, which lies in the crypt beneath the Duomo—the 
most dazzling structure on earth. Overlooking fruitful 
Lombardy, “ the pleasant garden of great Italy,” and 
lifting high towards heaven its four thousand marble pin¬ 
nacles, all shimmering in the golden sunlight, it stands out 
against the cloudless sky like the vision of a heaven-built 
palace. 





Travels in Europe . 


35i 


Hastening on across Lake Maggiore and the Borromean 
Isles, over the Alps, through the St. Gothard’s Pass, down 
Lake Luzerne, whose unsurpassed natural beauty the 
genius of Schiller has idealized, Archbishop Spalding, on 
the 13th of July, reached the old town of Luzerne, above 
which, on either side, in awful grandeur, rise Pilatus and 
the Rigi—the one fog-covered, the other white with snow. 

Leaving Luzerne, he passed through Basel, famous for 
its Council, and went down the Rhine to Strasburg. Here 
he visited the seminary, and, with the permission of Bishop 
Raes, made an address to the students, with a view to 
induce some of them to devote themselves to the Ameri¬ 
can missions. In Mayence, he dined with Bishop von 
Ketteler, whose independence of character and earnest 
devotion to the church he greatly admired. Making his 
way between the vine-clad hills of the bending Rhine, 
which heroic deeds, enshrined in scenery “ nor too sombre 
nor too gay; wild, but not rude; awful, yet not austere,” 
have made a consecrated stream, to which, when once 
beheld, we never bid farewell, he arrived in Cologne on 
the 20th of July, and, two days later, in Louvain, to visit 
the American College, to the foundation of which he had 
so greatly contributed. He saw again many of his old 
friends in Belgium, and he also went to Holland, where 
fifteen years before he had been received with so much 
kindness. Ever anxious to increase the number of his 
own priests, and also to assist his brother bishops, he 
never failed, when permitted, to address the seminarians 
of the cities through which he passed, in order to awaken 
vocations for the American missions. In many parts of 
Europe, he felt there were more priests than were really 
needed; and here the harvest was ripe, and there were 
no laborers to gather it in. All this while, however, his 
health was far from being good, and he was really wander- 


352 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

ing about Europe chiefly with the hope of finding relief 
somehow or somewhere. 

In Brussels, he met with a friend, who strongly urged 
him to try the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle. In his suffering 
condition, it was not difficult to persuade him to do any¬ 
thing that promised relief. So he went to Aix-la-Chapelle, 
and with what result he tells his benefactress in the follow¬ 
ing note of August 4, 1869: 

“Dear Madame: 

“ I drop you a few lines, to return my sincere thanks for 
having so effectually called my attention to the baths and 
waters of this celebrated city. I find that all you said and 
promised has been fully realized ; and when hereafter any 
one will dare tell me that your amiable sex is accustomed 
to draw upon imagination for its facts, or at least to color ex¬ 
travagantly what has proved pleasing, I shall point .to your 
recommendation of these waters as a sufficient refutation 
of, or at any rate a most noted and brilliant exception to, 
the remark. The baths are all you said and more ; they 
are really superb, and just what I needed. In fact, I con¬ 
sider it a special providence that I met you in Bruxelles, as 
otherwise I should have gone to Paris instead of Aix. Al¬ 
ready I am quite relieved, and in another week I expect to 
be as young and supple as ever. . . . Though I have 
not yet taken any excursion to the country, I have visited 
the relics and curiosities of the grand old cathedral, and also 
the Hotel de Ville. 

“ This is one of the oldest cities in Europe, and its inhab¬ 
itants say with pride : ‘After Rome, Aix-la-Chapelle.’ The 
city, with its monuments, carries us back a thousand years, 
to the brilliant days of Charlemagne, who was a giant, not 
dnly morally and intellectually, but physically; for he was 
over seven feet two inches tall. . . .” 


Ireland ’ 


353 


Now that his health was restored, he was anxious to get 
back to his beloved children. Returning to Paris, he saw 
the Universal Exposition, then passed through London on 
his way to Ireland, to pay a short visit to his old professor 
and friend, Cardinal Cullen. He was received with such 
warmth and hospitality that he spent three weeks in viewing 
the various places of interest in the Isle of Saints. He was 
so pleased with his visit that, a short time after he returned 
home, he lectured in Baltimore, to an audience of three thou¬ 
sand persons, on his tour in Ireland. 

Archbishop Spalding felt the deepest interest in whatever 
concerned the welfare of Ireland or the Irish people, as he 
himself says in a letter to one of the most distinguished 
Irishmen of our day, from motives of religion and of sym¬ 
pathy, natural to one who had Irish blood in his veins. 

His most intimate friend amongst the bishops of the 
United States, and the one whom he most admired—the 
gentle and scholarly Kenrick—was an Irishman. He recog¬ 
nized the fact that to the Irish people, above all others, is 
the church in this country indebted for its progress and pre¬ 
sent prosperous condition. Not only here, but in England, 
in Australia, in Canada, in Nova Scotia, indeed, wherever 
the church has gained ground in our day, the Irish race has. 
proved itself the great missionary people of the nineteenth 
century. Without them he felt the Maryland Colony could 
have made little or no impression upon the country; and 
they had already borne the brunt of the battle and gained 
half the victory, before the German immigration, which now 
constitutes so powerful an element of the church in the 
United States, had attained to very great importance. 

The Irish people were specially fitted for the work which 
the church had to do here. She needed men whom nor fear, 
nor contempt, nor derision could move from the outspoken 
profession of their firm-rooted faith ; and they had too long 


354 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


suffered worse than martyrdom for conscience’ sake to be 
troubled by such trifles. Others might believe that success 
has power to consecrate crime and blazon evil deeds; might 
be ever ready to desert the unpopular cause and salute the 
rising sun ; but they were the veterans of the forlorn hope, 
never so true to the object of their love as when that object 
is despised and hated by the whole world beside. 

Then, she needed a people between whom and their priests 
it would be impossible to sow the seeds of suspicion or dis¬ 
trust ; that their well-knit and love-welded union might 
stand firm amidst the conflicting elements of a new and but 
imperfectly organized state of society. 

“ The priest,” said the late Dr. O’Connor, “ is the Irish¬ 
man’s great source of consolation in every shape of afflic¬ 
tion. In poverty, he lays open to him his wants, and the 
•priest’s hand and tongue are ever ready to find any remedy 
that can be procured. In persecution or oppression, he flies 
to him for succor, and, if bold or persevering advocacy can 
find redress, it will be obtained. He is sick, and even rela¬ 
tives and friends abandon him ; the priest alone, undeterred 
by the pestilential atmosphere, will enter his cabin, and 
•remain with him as long as he can render him a service in 
assuaging his pains or lifting up his soul to God. In a hun¬ 
dred other things, the intervention of the priest is sought, 
and its beneficial influence is felt. Do differences arise 
between neighbors, the priest is the umpire, of whose 
impartiality and justice no doubt ever crosses the mind. 
If division arise in the family, the priest is sought as one 
who will pronounce a sentence consistent with justice and 
consideration, assuaging while he condemns, and pouring 
oil and endeavoring to heal the wounds which he is com¬ 
pelled to open. Does a mother tremble for the virtue of a 
daughter, charmed by the serpent whose glittering spots 
\have attracted her fancy, while she cannot believe in the 


Ireland. 


355 


poison hidden under the tongue? It is to the priest she 
recurs, and his venerated words dispel the delusion, and 
save her beloved child from the wiles of the charmer.” * 

There is nothing in the whole history of the church more 
beautiful than the unbroken affection which, for so many 
centuries, has, in Ireland, bound together priest and people; 
and the same feeling which so generally exists between the 
clergy and the laity in this country is doubtless, to a very 
great extent, a traditional continuance of that old love. 

In the history of probably every other people unfortu¬ 
nate divisions have arisen, which have at times changed the 
sacred name of priest to a term of reproach, and, in the 
popular language, have associated it with opprobrious epi¬ 
thets ; but through all their strange, eventful history, whether 
the heavens smiled or lowered, whether they were freemen 
or slaves, with the name of priest, the Irish people have ever 
coupled a title of endearment, and the “sogarth aroon ”— 
priest dear —like the English “ sweet home,” is.one of those 
phrases created by the great heart of the people, which, in 
their deep meaning, epitomize all that is most precious and 
consoling in a nation’s experience. 

No one more admired the harmony and friendly familiarity 
which, in this country, characterize the mutual relations of 
bishops, priests, and people, or felt more keenly the all¬ 
importance of preserving this sweet concord, than Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding. Both by example and precept, he sought 
to strengthen these bonds of love; and his correspondence 
with his brother bishops is evidence both of his great con¬ 
cern in this matter, and of the high wisdom which guided 
him in dealing with cases of practical difficulty. 

As an instance of Archbishop Spalding’s interest in what¬ 
ever concerned the welfare of the Irish race, I may quote 
here from a letter which he wrote to John Francis Maguire 

* The Irish Priest —A Lecture. 


356 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

whilst he was engaged in preparing his book on The Irish in 
A merica: 

“ I would suggest,” wrote the Archbishop, “ that you take 
special care not to commit your countrymen here to any 
party in politics, or to either side in the late civil war; and 
that you avoid any expression which might indicate that 
they constitute a class apart, with interests different from 
those of their fellow-citizens in general. ... In fact, 
in the late war, they fought nobly with their respective sec¬ 
tions, and were among the bravest soldiers on either side. 
So in politics ; though the great majority of them have 
always been Democrats, yet there have always been many 
exceptions.” 

He also states that it is his opinion that emigrants to 
America should be urged to seek the country and engage 
in agricultural pursuits, and not to remain in the cities and 
towns, where they are almost necessarily brought into con¬ 
tact with vice and corruption.* 

* Father Thebaud, in his excellent work on The Irish Race, advances the 
opinion that the crowding of vast numbers of Irish Catholic immigrants into 
the large cities of the United States has been providential. The first result 
of this has been, he thinks, “the sudden and necessary creation of many 
new episcopal sees." 

Now, it seems to me that the erection of a new episcopal see is demanded, 
not so much because a certain number of Catholics are found in some cen¬ 
tral point, as because they dwell within the limits of a given territory. The 
episcopal see of a prosperous and well-organized diocese may be, and even 
in the history of the church in this country has been, a small and unimpor¬ 
tant place ; in more than one instance, the cathedral has been the only Eng¬ 
lish-speaking congregation in the city. 

Another consideration to which Father Thebaud attaches great impor¬ 
tance is that, in the early ages of the church, the Gospel was first preached 
in the large cities, the populations of which had often to a great extent 
become Christian before even an attempt was made to convert the inhabi¬ 
tants of the rural districts ; and he thinks there is a fundamental law gov¬ 
erning facts of this kind. “ Christianity,” he says, “ is a growth, and conse- 


Ireland ’ 


357 


“ The necessity of' temperance,’’ he adds, “ cannot be too 
strongly inculcated. No Irishman who is temperate and 
industrious can fail to succeed.” 

On the 6th of October, 1867, Archbishop Spalding 
preached in the Metropolitan Church of Dublin, and on 

quently, like everything that grows, must develop itself from a central point 
outward.” But does not Father Th6baud mistake the point at issue? The 
first and great work of the church in this country was and is to preserve 
the faith of her own children. In comparison with this, the conversion of 
non-Catholics is merely of secondary importance. Now, the overcrowding 
of the poor in the great centres of population tends to develop disease of 
both body and soul, increases the death ratio, and, consequently, the number 
of orphans, for whom the church is unable to provide. It renders the proper 
education of children, who from their earliest years are necessarily thrown 
into contact with vice, almost impossible, and thus casts upon the world 
large numbers of young men especially, who, though the children of Catho¬ 
lics, are practically without religion or morality. I may add that it diminishes 
the influence of the great Catholic body by keeping in squalid poverty 
thousands who in other circumstances might create for themselves and their 
children homes that would become the sanctuaries of virtue and self- 
respect. 

That the cities were the strongholds of the Christian religion in the first 
ages of the church is attributable in a great measure to accidental causes. 
The lews were the first preachers and the most zealous disciples of Chris¬ 
tianity ; they formed the nucleus of the various apostolic churches, and 
then, as now, lived almost exclusively in the cities. The peculiar organiza¬ 
tion of the Roman state, and the condition of the rural pagan populations, 
would furnish other reasons. 

The greater facilities offered in the large cities for escaping the pursuit 
of their persecutors should also be taken into consideration. But that 
Father'Thebaud is mistaken in supposing that the Christian religion is 
necessarily or even generally propagated from the great centres outward, 
the conversion of the Irish, the Anglo-Saxons, the Goths, the Franks, and 
various other Teutonic tribes is proof sufficient. 

I should imagine that a man like Father Burke, for instance, might find 
here a mission as sublime as that of Peter the Hermit or St. Bernard, in 
preaching to our people the wisdom of leaving the overcrowded centres of 
population for the vast and fertile districts of the still thinly peopled West. 

For Father Thebaud’s views, see The Irish Race , p. 435 et seq. 


353 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding, 


the same day he took the steamer for New York, where he 
landed after a voyage of eleven days. 

His arrival in his episcopal city was greeted with marked 
manifestations of joy and reverence by both priests and 
people; and he began again, with renewed health and cour¬ 
age, the work of building up the church of Christ. His 
devoted children had not been idle during his absence. 
Within six weeks after his return, he dedicated four new 
churches in the city of Baltimore alone. The magnificent 
building for the Boys’ Protectory had been nearly completed, 
and the Sisters of Charity had purchased a spacious house 
near Franklin Square for an Industrial School for girls, which 
had also been recently established. Thus he had the conso¬ 
lation of beholding these two cherished institutions placed on 
a firm and lasting foundation. The new convent and spacious 
chapel of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd had been finished 
and dedicated. The monastery of the Passionists, who had 
lately come to the archdiocese, was building. Two other 
institutions had been begun, which are to-day among the 
most splendid in the United States—the Novitiate of the 
Redemptorists, at Ilchester, and the Scholasticate of the 
Jesuits, at Woodstock. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart, 
at the special invitation of Archbishop Spalding, had entered 
the archdiocese of Baltimore, and made a foundation at 
Rosecroft, almost on the very spot where the first Catholic 
Pilgrims landed. 

All these evidences of real and substantial progress 
rejoiced beyond measure the heart of the Archbishop, 
who seemed, as he grew older, to understand more and 
more fully the priceless value of the true faith, and to love 
it more and more ardently. One of the most important 
works which required his attention after his return home 
was the endowment of the American College in Rome. 

“ The idea of a college for American ecclesiastical stu- 


The American College in Rome . 


359 


dents in the Holy City originated,” says Mr. Hassard, in 
his life of Archbishop Hughes, “with Pope Pius IX. He 
proposed it to the bishops of this country in 1855, his 
answer to the letter of the prelates composing the First 
Provincial Council of New York.” 

In 1857? Bishop O’Connor, of Pittsburg, at the request of 
the Archbishop of Baltimore, sought, whilst in Rome, to 
come to an understanding concerning the establishment of 
the College. The Holy Father then offered to give the 
ancient convent of l’Umilta to the American Church for the 
proposed institution ; but, as the building was at the time 
occupied by French troops, he was not able to carry his 
design into immediate execution. In October, 1858, Arch¬ 
bishop Kenrick wrote to Bishop Spalding as follows: “ The 
Rev. David Whelan has been appointed by me agent to 
confer with the authorities in Rome as to the erection of a 
college for the United States, in accordance with the action 
of the Council [Ninth Provincial of Baltimore]. The Pope 
urges it in his letter to the Archbishop of New York and in 
his reply to our Council.” The College was not opened, 
however, until 1859. The bishops of the United States 
ordered collections to be taken up to defray the preliminary 
expenses; but the College was not established on a solid 
financial basis, having to depend chiefly upon uncertain col¬ 
lections, which a few years’ experience showed to be inade¬ 
quate to its proper maintenance. 

The question of its endowment was, therefore, brought 
before the fathers of the Second Plenary Council of Balti¬ 
more, who, after considering various plans, finally resolved 
to raise a sum of money which, properly invested, would 
secure the College a fixed annual revenue. In January, 

1868, the Sacred Congregation, in its instruction De decre- 
tis Concilii corrigendis , urged the bishops to make no delay 
in coming to the aid of the College, as it was in imminent 


360 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

danger of being closed for want of funds. In November, 
Archbishop Spalding, as Chairman of the Metropolitans, 
and Bishop Wood, as Chairman of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee of Bishops, issued an Appeal to the More Wealthy 
among the Catholics of the United States , in which, after 
referring to the general collection ordered by the Plenary 
Council to meet the more pressing wants of the College, 
they recall the traditional generosity of Catholics in the 
endowment of schools and colleges, especially in ages past, 
when the great and the wealthy held it as a privilege to be 
allowed to contribute to such noble and Christian works. 

“ We urge the matter upon you the more strongly,” I 
quote from the Appeal, “as next year the great General 
Council is to be convened in Rome, and we are to meet 
the bishops of the whole world in one of those grand 
assemblies which mark an era in the history of the Uni¬ 
versal Church. To the councils of Nice, Ephesus, Chal- 
cedon, Lateran, Lyons, Florence, and Trent is to be added 
that of the Vatican. Let us, before we go to the Holy 
City, have the consolation of knowing that, through your 
munificence, we have a College there to which we can 
proudly point as bishops of a great Catholic people; let 
us be spared the disgrace of going thither to find its doors 
closed and its name blotted out from the list of colleges 
existing in the Eternal City.” 

It was proposed to raise from $250,000 to $300,000, to 
be contributed in sums of $5,000, $1,000, and $500. The 
Rev. George H. Doane was deputed to call on the wealthy 
Catholics of the various dioceses of the country. He 
began with Baltimore. On the 29th of November, 1868, 
Archbishop Spalding wrote to the Archbishop of New 
York : 

“ I am happy to be able to inform your Grace that Fa¬ 
ther Doane’s mission in Baltimore has been successful. 


The American College in Rome. 361 

The result of the week’s work so far is the subscription 
—as good as gold—of twenty-one thousand dollars, includ¬ 
ing three burses, but not including from three to eight 
thousand dollars additional, which we have well grounded 
hopes of obtaining. The contribution of Baltimore to 
the noble work may be safely set down, I think, at $25,000; 
and it may reach $30,000, as I have strong hopes of 
another burse. To achieve this result in so short a time, 
it was necessary diligently to prepare the ground before¬ 
hand. This was done by publications in the newspapers, by 
previous circulation of the Appeal , and by announcements 
from every pulpit in the city on last Sunday. Should 
other cities and dioceses equal Baltimore, our plan will 
have attained the end proposed.” 

His correspondence with various members of the Amer¬ 
ican hierarchy at this time shows with what earnestness 
and energy he devoted himself to this work. As the 
oldest Roman student in the episcopate of the United 
States, he felt a special interest in the American College, 
which his love of the Holy See, and his unswerving devo¬ 
tion to whatever he thought to be for the honor and good 
of the church in this country, rendered still more active. 

Over two hundred thousand dollars, for the most part 
in the form of burses of five thousand dollars each, were 
raised by this Appeal; and, although this sum was some¬ 
what less than what had been expected, it was still suffi¬ 
cient to place the College upon a lasting foundation. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


THE DANGERS THAT THREATEN THE DESTRUCTION OF 
OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS—THE REMEDY—THE CRAVING 
FOR SENSUOUS INDULGENCE. 



RCHBISHOP SPALDING was unrelenting in 
his opposition to the wasteful extravagance and 
the morbid craving for sensuous enjoyment 
which are everywhere invading American life. 
He himself had been brought up amid the primitive sim¬ 
plicity of our early republican society ; and, although he 
had afterwards studied in Europe, and mingled much with 
the world, he yet never outgrew the impressions of his plain, 
democratic training. He considered the modern tendency 
to pagan sensualism as hurtful alike to the highest interests 
of true religion and of republican institutions. An effemi¬ 
nate, pleasure-loving people, as he thought, could neither be 
good Christians nor honest lovers of freedom; and, with St. 
Augustine, he held that only a virtuous people can long up¬ 
hold a republican form of government. 

He knew the great lesson of history concerning the rise 
and downfall of free institutions. At first, manners are 
rude, but pure and natural; faith is simple, but deep and 
earnest; and the people are poor, but patient of labor, and 
smitten with the sacred love of liberty. Then, as states grow, 
either by conquest or industry and commerce, wealth is de¬ 
veloped, the arts and sciences flourish, manners become soft 
and polished. New wants spring into being ; the desire of 
pleasure, the love of luxury, are born. The country blooms 
as the garden ; the city gleams in gold, and flashes in marble. 
Civilization embellishes existence, and casts its effulgent 




Dangers that threaten our Free Institutions . 363 


beams afar; and, at their genial call, the scented, many- 
hued flowers of life put forth their tender blossoms. But 
beneath the flowers the serpent lurks. Life, now become 
so sweet, so pleasant, insensibly enervates the soul. Char¬ 
acters grow less strong and less manly. The virtues of the 
fathers die with them, and degenerate children cease even to 
admire that which they can no longer imitate. Egotism 
takes possession of the heart ; the man who lives for 
pleasure lives for self alone. Corruption spreads, religion 
grows sickly, modelled after the characters of those who 
profess it. The disorder passes from the heart to the head. 
To justify his voluptuous life, man denies the religion which 
condemns it; and infidelity, like “ pitted speck in garnered 
fruit,” soon eats its way to the core of the nation’s life. 
The boundless thirst for gold, the equivalent of all sensual 
gratification, soon creates two opposite classes in society— 
the very rich and the very poor. The venality of those 
clothed with authority renders wealth a protection against 
punishment for crime. The poorer class grow insubordinate 
and lawless. Wise men shake their heads, and prophets 
foretell the coming days of distress, and legislators multiply 
laws. But all to no purpose. Corruption grows, ascends 
higher and sinks lower, until all are drawn into its foul, con¬ 
tagious current. Society then calls to its aid force, des¬ 
potism, and gives itself up into the hands of one man, who 
will hold all bound in the pitiless chains of tyranny. The 
people revolt and murder the master whom they had creat¬ 
ed, and then kneel at the feet of another; and so, from 
revolution to revolution, from despotism to despotism, the 
state is hurried on, till, swallowed up in universal chaos, it 
sinks into the abyss. 

Thus great states have* grown strong and mighty, thus 
have they become weak and powerless, until at length Time 
drew his ploughshare across the plains of their dwelling and 


364 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

the cities of their abiding, leaving only a ruin to mark the 
place where once they were. 

Archbishop Spalding, like other thoughtful men, knew 
that the American experiment was still, in spite of its daz¬ 
zling success, a problem. God has never yet given to man 
a finer stage to strut and fret his brief hour upon than we 
have here. But shall it endure ? Shall the free institutions 
of this country be of long continuance ? This is a question 
which men who do not reflect will be ready to answer ; but 
others will be less confident. 

Many of the most thoughtful men outside the church 
foresee the dangers which threaten us ; but they perceive, 
too, so they fancy, where the remedy lies. They are smitten 
with the mania of our age, the idolatry of what they call 
education. Teach the people how to read and write, they 
say, make ignorance a crime, and all will be well. Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding, taking the Catholic view, held that the 
“ ills that flesh is heir to ” do not proceed from the intel¬ 
lect alone, but that we inherit a depraved will, which no 
mere intellectual culture can make right. 

“What in me is dark, illumine ; 

What is low, raise and support,” 

Pope sang ; and this is true philosophy. We must enlighten 
the mind, but we must also raise and support the will. 

As a man may “ smile and smile and be a villain,” so he 
may read and write, and write and read, and still .be the 
veriest slave to his own wrong-bent heart. The danger 
which threatens the permanency of our American institu¬ 
tions does not proceed from the want of mental culture. 
Intellectual training is to-day more universal than it has 
ever been, but we have not the honest love of liberty our 
forefathers had. 

The founders of this Republic were not immaculate— 


Dangers that Threaten our Free Institutions, 365 


they had their faults and their prejudices, as all men have ; 
but however we may judge of them in detail, we must 
admit that they were men of strong character and of honest 
purpose, who loved their country better than their private 
aims. They were earnest men—men of few words and many 
deeds. God had given them, for the field of their labors, a 
country unsurpassed in natural resources. He had placed 
in their hands the printing-press and the steam-engine, to 
which they bound every implement of human invention. 
The desert bloomed, cities grew up in a night, and the 
American continent teemed with the busy life of a great 
people. In our mountains, we found iron, and silver, and 
gold ; on our boundless plains fattened the finest herds; 
on our uplands grew the wheat, in our alluvial valleys the 
maize, the sugar-cane, and the cotton plant. Our country 
was the refuge of the downtrodden, the breathing-ground 
of oppressed humanity. But beneath the flower lurked the 
serpent. Prosperity blinded us, success crazed us, wealth 
enervated us, the blessings of peace made us long for the 
curse of war, and the baptism of blood has not purified us. 

Corruption still rises higher and sinks deeper, drawing into 
its foul current every class of society; and I now but repeat 
what the nation each morning reads—corruption in the high 
places, and corruption in the lower strata of society, corrup- % 
tion in the halls of Congress, corruption in the State Assem¬ 
blies, corruption in the judiciary, corruption in the army of 
officials, corruption in the business circle, corruption in the 
press, corruption in the pulpit, corruption everywhere. Suc¬ 
cess is the only criterion of excellence. Everything, even 
honor, can be bought. Money is impunity before the law. 
An oath is an empty word. We are more ready to swear 
than our fathers were to affirm. We read of murders and 
suicides with less attention than of the price of. gold. 
Nothing is done except by clique and intrigue, which are 


3 66 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


the forerunners of despotism. But this is not the worst. 
Crime and sin are not the worst evils of society. Indiffer¬ 
ence and apathy in crime and sin are the signs of approach¬ 
ing death. Now, the question is, How are we to stay this 
mountain-wave of corruption which threatens to engulf us ? 
The leaders of an unbelieving generation appeal to popular 
education ; but that portion of the people in which popular 
education has been carried to the greatest perfection is dying 
a self-inflicted death. In New England, the increase of popu¬ 
lation is almost entirely due to the children of foreign 
parents. A people whose mothers respect not the most 
sacred laws of life is self-doomed, and can have no part in 
the future. That the training of the popular intellect is of 
itself not a sufficient safeguard against the danger that 
menaces, this is proof enough. Another class of men appeal 
to political reform to save the country. But with universal 
suffrage, the representatives of a corrupt people will always 
be corrupt; and, besides, no merely political reform can 
regenerate a people which has aban done d virtue. When 
the masses are depraved, it is not possible that they should 
have an honest and unselfish love of liberty; and therefore 
there are conditions of society in which despotism becomes 
a necessity; in which men are forced to choose between 
the tyranny of the many and that of one man. Alexander, 
Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte were the legitimate offspring 
of the corruption of the people whom they ruled. There 
are but two ways of governing men—the method of law 
and the method of force. When law ceases to command 
respect, force becomes a necessity. Hence, when pagan 
nations once became corrupt, there was for them no redemp¬ 
tion. They had no power that enabled them to retrace their 
steps, and to remount the easy way that led to hell. The 
evil was immedicable. But is it lawful to argue from pagan 
to Christian society ? Has not God, in the Scriptural phrase, 


The Remedy . 


36 7 


made the Christian nations curable? For the corruption of 
pagan nations there was no remedy, because their religion 
was null. The Christian nations are curable, but only 
through their religion. Politicians cannot heal the disorder. 
They are the quacks of the social therapeutics. It was 
religion that saved society at the downfall of the Roman 
Empire. During the middle ages, when Europe was split 
up into petty principalities, a prey to every antagonism, 
again it was religion that remodelled and reformed society. 
When Napoleon stood upon the wreck of the first French 
Revolution, and bethought him how he might bring order 
out of the chaos, he at once reopened the churches of France, 
and recalled religion as the only certain instrument of 
national regeneration. Popular government can be based 
only upon popular virtue, which cannot exist without reli¬ 
gion. Philosophy, whatever may be its power to control 
the passions, cannot reach the masses. A nation of phi¬ 
losophers there has never been, nor can there ever be. For 
the people, religion and the principles of morality are insepa¬ 
rable. Take from them religion, and you take away their 
only guide of moral conduct. 

The religion which is to be the safeguard of morality, 
and consequently the bulwark of liberty, in this country 
cannot be the Protestant. To enable us to understand this, 
two considerations will be sufficient. First, Protestantism 
in the United States has already lost control of the masses; 
and, secondly, it has in itself become so wholly a negation 
that upon it neither a doctrinal nor a moral code can be 
based. Persuaded of the impotence of Protestantism to 
preserve in the nation an element of moral strength suffi¬ 
cient to save it from dissolution, Archbishop Spalding 
looked to the Catholic Church as the only institution which 
has the vital power to counteract the materialistic and 
pagan spirit which threatens to infect with its deadly 


368 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

breath the nation’s life. He did not, it is true, indulge 
in dreams about this country’s becoming Catholic within 
a short time; but he held that the church here was des¬ 
tined day by day to increase both in strength and num¬ 
bers ; that she would be able to retain her influence over 
the millions of her children, and thereby prevent them 
from abandoning the cardinal principles of Christian mor¬ 
ality; and that this great Catholic and conservative ele¬ 
ment in the nation would be its best defence against the 
licentious thought and bald materialism which threaten 
its ruin. The great work of the church in its relation 
to civil society, according to the theory of government 
under which we live, was, in Archbishop Spalding’s view 
of the subject, to labor to make her children true to 
themselves as Catholics, and then it needs must follow 
they could not be false to their duties as citizens. Hence, 
in season and out of season, he warned Catholics against 
the corruptions of the age. He specially feared lest the 
spirit of worldliness and self-indulgence should with soft¬ 
ness infect the rugged hardihood of true Catholic faith, 
leaving it but the sickly name of what should be a living 
substance; and, therefore, whilst he encouraged innocent 
enjoyment, he firmly set his face against all those amuse¬ 
ments which in any way offend the most exalted Catholic 
idea of Christian morality. 

He loved the simple ways of the olden time, and could 
not think that we were better than our fathers because we 
had become more effeminate and self-indulgent. And when, 
in the presence of the immense material progress of the 
age, he beheld men bowed beneath the yoke of the adora¬ 
tion of success, the idolatry of wealth, and the slavish 
indulgence of passion; when he saw every principle of 
truth, of justice, and of honor trampled upon by individ¬ 
uals and by nations, and the attempt made to organize 


The Remedy . 


369 


society merely for the purpose of giving the greatest 
amount of sensuous pleasure to the greatest number of 
animals, his protesting soul almost made him feel, as our 
philosophers do, contempt for the whole affair. 

Though he loved his country, and liberty, and the peo¬ 
ple, he never had any special admiration for this nineteenth 
century, in which, as he thought, the predominant power 
of matter had dwarfed the souls of men. 

Few have been so severe as he in denouncing the fashion¬ 
able dances of the day, which he held to be directly opposed 
to purity, the immediate jewel of the Catholic soul, which 
gone, the temple of God is but painted clay. That a Cath¬ 
olic woman, whose model is the Virgin Mother of God, 
should expose herself to wanton contact and immodest gaze 
by participating in that which is unseemly in its practice 
and immoral in its consequences, was so repugnant to his 
sense of virtue that he could not even think of it with 
patience. And as for men, he thought an American should 
be too much of a democrat to dance fancy dances which 
would more become the harem of a voluptuous tyrant 
than the republican home of an American citizen. Whilst 
Bishop of Louisville, his scathing invectives against these 
immodesties had the effect of almost entirely banishing 
them from Catholic society, and in Baltimore he continued 
the crusade against what he considered a recrudescence of 
paganism.* 

* I may be permitted to quote here the words of all the bishops of the 
United States, addressed to those who have charge of souls : 

“ Choreas immodestas, quae quotidie magis magisque frequentantur, 
insectentur ac prorsus damnent. Moneant fideles, quantum non solum in 
Deum, verum in societatem, et familiam, seipsos denique offendant, qui 
choreis hisce vel operam, dant vel saltern prsesentia sua favere videntur.” 

“ Let them,” I translate the words of the venerable prelates of the Ameri¬ 
can Church—“ let them inveigh against and wholly condemn the indecent 
dances which day by day are becoming more and more common. Let them 


370 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


He was equally bitter in his denunciation of the immodest 
drama, even that which is patronized by the most respecta¬ 
ble classes of society. He could not understand how Chris¬ 
tian women could become the public and avowed approvers 
of the shamelessness of their sex in exhibitions which are 
sufficient to make men who have souls blush to think their 
mothers were women. He would have preferred the bull ¬ 
fight to this public desecration of that which is our holiest 
instinct—the sense of purity. 

He probably had something of the natural fondness of 
priests for exposing the weaknesses of women, may be for 
exaggerating them. However this may be, he considered 
the system of female education in this country subject to 
grave objections. Time has been when woman was degraded 
by being made the slave of labor; but we Americans degrade 
her by making her the slave of indolence. The daughters 
of the rich are brought up like exotics, in a way. which 
develops to the highest degree a finely-wrought and most 
sensitive nervous system. To this are added all the accom¬ 
plishments which constitute a merely ornamental educa¬ 
tion ; and the young lady, beautiful, intelligent, refined, so 
delicate that the winds of heaven may not visit her too 
roughly, is fit only to sit in the parlor. 

The license which the custom of our country permits in 
the relations of the sexes before marriage, together with the 
thousand fond dreams that a young woman nurses, satisfies, 
for a while, her craving nature. Indeed, her life at this 
period is idle and free as the wind ; all that she has to do is, 
on varied wing and in bright colors, to flit about and sip the 
honey from the many-scented flowers that smiling nature 
holds out to her. Her whole education has impressed upon 

teach the faithful that they who take part in, or by their presence give sanc^ 
tion to, such dances, sin not only against God, but against society, the fam¬ 
ily, even against themselves.”— Condi. Balt. Plcn. II, n. 472. 


The Craving for Sensuous Indulgence, 371 


her that her first and highest duty is to please ; that her 
chief use in the world is to be an ornament—a something 
that will give pleasure to others. 

She marries. A life of indolence and nervous excitement 
has rendered her unfit to be either a wife or a mother. 
The few children she has, if she have any, are most gen¬ 
erally feeble, and hence the American family, as a rule, is 
the most short-lived of families. Now that life for her has 
become a serious reality, imposing duties that are not. 
always agreeable, her sensitive nature is shocked by the- 
rude-contact of things as they are, and seeks for happiness,, 
not in the fulfilment of duty, but in the indulgence of 
desire. Before marriage, she lived only to please, and now 
she thinks it but fair that she should live but to be pleased. 
Unhappy at home, she goes into society, and her woman’s 
ambition causes her to rush into every extravagance. She 
must live in a palace and dress like a queen; and, if there 
be a foreign land of beauty that society talks about, she 
must visit it; and, to wind up this eventful history, she 
sometimes succeeds in making her husband a bankrupt in 
name and fortune. 

There can be no doubt but that there is in our society 
a very solid background of truth to this possibly someCvhat 
high coloring. 

Anothqr consideration advanced by Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding, in a sermon on the extravagance of the times, was 
that this love of display in women checks Christian mar¬ 
riage, and thereby becomes the cause of innumerable other 
evils. 

In the Pastoral Letter of the Second Plenary Council, 
and, indeed, in the Acts of the Council also, the shoals upon 
which virtue too often suffers shipwreck are signalled. 

“ We consider it to be our duty,” say the fathers of that 
Council, “ to warn our people against those amusements^ 


372 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


which may easily become to them an occasion of sin, and 
especially against those fashionable dances, which, as at 
present carried on, are revolting to every feeling of delicacy 
and propriety, and are fraught with the greatest danger to 
morals. We would also warn them most solemnly against 
the great abuses which have sprung up in the matter of 
fairs, excursions, and picnics, in which, as too often con¬ 
ducted, the name of charity is made to covef a multitude 
of sins. We forbid all Catholics to have anything to do 
with them, except when managed in accordance with the 
regulations of the Ordinary, and under the immediate super¬ 
vision of their respective pastors.” 

In the Tenth Provincial Council of Baltimore, which, in 
accordance with a law promulgated in the Plenary Council, 
Archbishop Spalding convoked and presided over in the 
spring of 1869, this subject was again discussed, and in the 
Pastoral Letter reference is made to it in language even 
still more pointed: 

“ Prominent among the evils we have to deplore,” say 
the bishops of this synod, “ and which are an evidence of 
the growing licentiousness of the times, may be reckoned a 
morbid taste for indecent publications, and the frequenta- 
tion'of immoral or positively obscene theatrical perform¬ 
ances. No entertainments seem to satisfy the fast degene¬ 
rating spirit of the age, unless they be highly sensational, 
and calculated to gratify the most prurient appetites. . . . 
The church, far from discountenancing, has always en¬ 
couraged, innocent and moderate amusements, as useful 
or necessary relaxation? ; but, while approving of harmless 
diversions, she never ceases to exercise her sacred influence 
in censuring all amusements which can be purchased only 
at the expense of virtue. We deem it particularly our 
solemn duty to renew our warning against the modern 
fashionable dances, commonly called German f or round 


The Craving for Sensuous Indulgence . 373 


dances , which are becoming more and more the occasions 
of sin. These practices are so much the more dangerous 
as several persons seem to look upon them as harmless, and 
indulge in them without any apparent remorse of con¬ 
science.” 

In this same letter, reference is made to what the fathers 
call the “murder of the innocents,” which threatens to 
become the foulest stain on our national character — a 
crime, say they, which is most prevalent in those localities 
where the system of education without religion has been 
longest established and most successfully carried out. 
They believe that our Catholic population is uncontami¬ 
nated by this vile infection; but they desire to raise this 
voice of warning to signal the danger while it Is yet afar. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


DEATH OF THE VERY REV. B. J. SPALDING—VISITATION 

OF THE DIOCESE—THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR— 

THE VATICAN COUNCIL. 

T was during the summer of 1868 that Archbishop 
Spalding met with the sad loss of his brother, 
the Very Rev. B. J. Spalding, Administrator of 
the diocese of Louisville, whose unexpected 
death overwhelmed him with sorrow. There was a differ¬ 
ence of but two years in their ages. They had studied 
together at St. Mary’s, at St. Joseph’s, and in the Propa¬ 
ganda, and afterwards for many years they had labored side 
by side in Kentucky. Each had been a helper to the other; 
and the love that united them, if not demonstrative, was of 
the deepest and truest kind. 

The Very Rev. Dr. Spalding had invested the. patrimony 
which he had received from his father principally in real 
estate in Louisville, which, at the time of his death, had 
grown to be of some value. In his will, which was drawn 
up a few months before his death, he bequeathed all that he 
should die possessed of to his brother, the Archbishop of 
Baltimore, to be expended, according to his discretion, for 
charitable objects in the diocese of Louisville. 

I11 carrying out this bequest, Archbishop Spalding, in 
accordance with what he knew to have been his brother’s 
intentions, deeded the principal part of the estate to a cor¬ 
poration which he had had chartered under the title of “ St. 
Joseph’s Industrial School for Boys of the city of Louis¬ 
ville, Kentucky.” 

What was not bestowed in this manner he divided among 







Visitation of the Diocese . 375 

the various benevolent institutions and associations of the 
diocese. 

Three of the new dioceses, and one of the vicariates apos¬ 
tolic, for the erection of which the fathers of the Second 
Plenary Council had petitioned the Holy See, were in the 
province of Baltimore. There was considerable delay in 
Rome in designating the persons who were to fill the new 
sees. At length, however, the Bulls arrived; and, on the 
16th of August, 1868, Archbishop Spalding, assisted by 
nearly all his suffragans, gave the episcopal consecration, in 
the cathedral of Baltimore, to the Right Rev. Thomas A. 
Becker, who had been appointed to the see of Wilmington, 
and to the Right Rev. James Gibbons, who had been named 
Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina; and he afterwards ac¬ 
companied the newly consecrated prelates, both of whom 
had been attached to his cathedral, to their respective dio¬ 
ceses, and assisted at their installation. 

During the summer and fall of this year, he superintended 
the printing of the Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore, which he introduced into his theo¬ 
logical seminary as the text-book of canon law. 

In the spring and summer of 1869, Archbishop Spalding 
was occupied in visiting his diocese, preparatory to his 
departure for the Vatican Council. 

From September, 1868, to October, 1869, he administered 
confirmation over a hundred times, the number of persons 
confirmed by him during this period being six thousand 
four hundred and five, eight hundred and forty-seven of 
whom were converts. It may be stated, as another consol¬ 
ing evidence of the progress of religion, that in June, 1869, 
he conferred sacred orders upon the largest number of can¬ 
didates ever ordained at one time in the United States. 
Twenty-nine were ordained subdeacons; twenty-six, dea¬ 
cons ; and twenty-four, priests. 


376 Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

In July, he received special powers from Rome to pro* 
ceed to Chicago to examine into the state of things in that 
diocese, and to report to the Holy See. 

It was during this summer that he had the happiness of 
welcoming to Baltimore the Little Sisters of the Poor— 
one of the noblest congregations of Catholic women that 
have come to us from France, to whose Christian charity 
we owe so much. Their mission is to the old, who are 
helpless, who have nothing of that which should accom¬ 
pany old age, but whom the world, now that- they are 
broken and worn by the weight of toilsome years, has cast 
aside as no longer fit for its uses. To them, under the 
habit of the Little Sister, comes the ever-abiding love 
of Jesus Christ, stretching out the helping hand, speaking 
the cheery word, all redolent of love, and offering to their 
abandoned age the comforts of a home. 

Archbishop Spalding was most anxious to have in his 
diocese those institutions of the church whose special mis¬ 
sion is to relieve human suffering and to console human 
sorrow. Whatever his intellectual gifts may or may not 
have been, he had a great Catholic heart, which went out in 
love and sympathy to all—to the orphan, to the negro, to 
the sinful, to the outcast, to the aged, to all who suffered 
and had none to pity them. He felt that the poor, above all 
others, need the church, and that she needs them. A reli¬ 
gious faith which is confined to the wealthy can have but 
little force or vitality; for the rich, as a class, are always 
less earnest in religion than the poor. In our age, above 
all, which worships only success, they consider their own 
prosperity in this world as a mark of the divine favor, an 
especial sign of predestination, and hence they are satisfied 
with the name of religion, or without religion. A church 
which is the church of the rich alone cannot be the church 
of Jesus Christ. The poor alone heard him gladly, and 


The Little Sisters of the Poor. 


377 


too often they only love to hear those who preach the 
doctrines which he taught. Present prosperity and joy so 
fascinate and inebriate men that they become unconscious 
of the uncertainty of their condition, and forget that “ one 
blast may chill them into misery.” 

“ Alles lasst sich ertragen 
Nur nicht eine Reihe schoner Tagen.” 

“The poor you shall have always with you,” said Jesus 
Christ. Possibly he meant that the people would never 
betray the church. To-day, at least, the kings and princes 
of the earth have denied her, they that are dressed in brief 
authority have apostatized, and the church, regretting that 
of which she is guiltless, stretches out her mother’s arms to 
the people, the children of her earliest love. 

“ The friendship of the poor,” said St. Bernard, in the 
days w r hen the church ruled the world—“ the friendship of 
the poor makes us the friends of kings.” The people is 
king to-day, and the church that made the people free will 
make them holy. Infidelity is seeking to found the demo¬ 
cracy of disorder and unrule on the ignoble basis of mere ani¬ 
malism ; the church will build up the democracy of Christ, 
which will recognize the inalienable rights of the immortal 
soul as the only source of human dignity and of human 
liberty. 

“ I believe,” says M. Louis Veuillot, “ that the future 
belongs to the democracy; that the church will discipline 
the democratic barbarism as she has disciplined all other 
barbarisms, which, under different names, are in fact iden¬ 
tical ; that she will baptize it, that she will educate it, that 
she will organize it into a body politic, and that, at length, 
we shall have a Holy Roman Democracy, as we have had a 
Holy Roman Empire. And perhaps it will then be found 
that in substance both are the same thing.” * 

* Rome pendant le Concile , p. 495. 


373 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


The people will belong to them who have the power to 
love them most, and only Christ and they who believe in 
him can love the people. This age and country have talked 
of the people, have flattered the people, in wordy language 
have sought to raise the people to heaven. The world loves 
the people when the people can work, when the people can 
vote, when the people can fight; but when the people are 
sick, are sorrowful, are poor, only Jesus Christ and they who 
love him love the people. The world loves beauty, it loves 
power, it loves money; but only Christ, and they who are 
his, love the poor, the afflicted, and the suffering. Were it 
not for Jesus living in his church, again the people would 
be forced to butcher one another beneath,the eyes of a rich, 
voluptuous world, that the weary, dragging hours might 
pass less slowly. 

The world talks of the people, of the freedom of the peo¬ 
ple, of the happiness of the people ; Jesus Christ alone is 
the God of the people, the man of the people. Where he 
is not, the people are nothing; take him away, and there 
remains but paganism—the many living for the few, the 
many dying for the few—man without dignity, and woman 
without honor. 

And this is the great question of the future—Who shall 
have the people? The kings of Christendom with their 
own hands have profaned the sacredness that did hedge 
them in. Protestantism is a wreck. In presence of the 
people, there remain but the church and atheism. Will the 
people of the future be Catholic, or will they be godless? 
This is the question. Driven from the palaces of kings and 
from the seats of worldly power, the church is left with the 
people alone, and she will entwine her gentle arms around 
their necks, and they will be her children, and she will be 
their mother. Christians must believe this, because they 
are not permitted to despair of the human race. 


The Vatican Council ’ 


379 


In connection with the great world-struggle of the future, 
the most important event which has taken place in our day 
is the Vatican Council. 

It was on the 20th of October, 1869, that Archbishop 
Spalding bade farewell to his beloved children, in obedience 
to the voice of Christ's Vicar, in order to take part in the 
great Council which Pius IX. had convoked to meet on the 
8th of the following December. For days before, his house 
had been thronged with the crowds that came to ask his 
blessing and bid him God-speed on his way. On the day of 
his departure, which was lovely as only an American Octo¬ 
ber day can be, the whole city seemed to have turned out 
to do him honor. The Catholic societies with their banners 
formed a double line along the streets through which the 
procession passed. The priests and seminarians of the arch¬ 
diocese led the way, then came several bishops in carriages, 
followed by that which bore the Archbishop, and behind 
this walked the boys of the St. Mary’s Industrial School. 
As the procession moved down the densely crowded street, 
words of affection and love broke from the lips of the peo¬ 
ple. u God bless you, Archbishop!” they said, and then, 
“ Good-by, dear Archbishop ” ; and when something caused 
a momentary halt, they rushed around his carriage to touch 
his hand or say a last kind word of parting. 

The Baltimore , on which Archbishop Spalding was to 
sail, was lying some distance down the bay. Two thousand 
people were on the boats which took the Archbishop and his 
party out to the steamer, which was decked with flags and 
hung with wreaths of evergreens and flowers. Over the 
companion-ladder, a beautiful arch had been thrown, in 
the centre of which was inscribed, “ Rome.” Under this 
the Archbishop and party passed to the deck, where they 
were received by the officers of the ship. 

When the signal was given, the Baltimore moved off 


380 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


amid the- booming of cannon and the cheers of the multi¬ 
tude. On Federal Hill, where the church of St. Mary, the 
Star of the Sea, now stands, a large concourse of people had 
assembled; and, as the boats passed, they cheered lustily. 
At Fort McHenry, they were saluted by the military band, 
and by the lowering and hoisting of the flag. At Swann 
Point, the Baltimore laid to; the boats which still accom¬ 
panied her, came up, the parting words were spoken,, the ship 
moved out to sea, and the boats turned homeward. 

The passage across the ocean was as pleasant as a sea 
voyage can be, favored, as it was, both by pleasant company 
and fair weather. On the two Sundays on which they were 
on the waters, Catholic service was held, at which both crew 
and passengers, with few exceptions, assisted. On the first 
Sunday, Archbishop Spalding preached on the divinity of 
Christ, and interwove in his remarks a beautiful tribute to 
his Immaculate Mother. On the second Sunday, the sermon 
was delivered by Bishop McGill. As they approached 
Southampton, on the 2d of November, the bishops and 
priests joined in singing the Te Deum , in thanksgiving for 
their prosperous voyage. 

Archbishop Spalding, in company with several of the 
bishops who had crossed the ocean with him, after spend¬ 
ing a few days in England, passed into France ; and, having 
delayed a little in Paris and Lyons, sailed from Marseilles 
for Civita Vecchia. It took them four days to make the 
trip across the Mediterranean, thirty-six hours being the 
usual time required. Stress of weather forced them to put 
into the Isle of Elba, where they visited the modest house 
in which the great Napoleon dwelt during his first exile. 
When within two hours’ sail of Civita Vecchia, the rough 
sea again forced them to seek shelter in a neighboring port, 
where they were tossed about in all the agony of sea-sick¬ 
ness. But on the 26th of November, they succeeded in 


The Vatican Council . 


38 i 

landing in Civita Vecchia, where they were warmly wel¬ 
comed by the Governor of the city, who entertained the 
bishops and priests at dinner; and soon Rome gladdened 
their eyes, and they were again at home. 

The chief fact in connection with the history of the 
Vatican Council is the definition of the infallibility of the 
Pope. 

Although the Council itself remains unfinished, this, the 
greatest work which it could have accomplished, is complete, 
and has its own history. 

Before the Council assembled, and after it had met, much 
feeling was called forth by agitations against the definition 
of the dogma, or in favor of it; and, as it is easy to perceive 
now, far too great importance was attached to these efforts. 
No sooner was the Council convoked, than, as by a divine 
instinct, the whole Catholic world looked for a clear and 
explicit declaration upon a point which the vast majority 
of the bishops, and the great mass of the clergy and laity, 
believed to be no longer open to discussion, but which, 
nevertheless, because it had not been clearly defined, was 
threatening to become a source of division and discord in 
the church. 

The discussions which took place concerning the advisa¬ 
bility of defining the dogma are important only inasmuch as 
they manifest the universal interest in the subject, and show 
that the declaration of the faith of the church on this point 
was confidently looked for. In fact, everything else had 
been settled. This was the only question which remained 
to be decided. To have recoiled before what men called the 
spirit of the age, and to have concealed the truth out of re¬ 
spect to modern ideas, would have been to be afraid; but 
the church has never been afraid. 

A concession universally made by the opponents of the 


382 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

church is that she is the most logically consistent institution 
that has appeared on the stage of human action. No power, 
earthly or infernal, has ever been able to make her draw back 
from the legitimate conclusions from the facts upon which 
she is built. The Vatican Council is an example of this 
truth. In an age essentially democratic, when the spirit of 
the time is seeking to take away prestige and power from 
the individual, to give them to humanity ; when the theory 
of the divine right of kings has yielded to that of the inaliena¬ 
ble rights of the people ; when the words of even the great¬ 
est thinkers are read in mere idle curiosity by minds that 
have ceased to believe that it is given to man to know the 
truth ; in an age which has no faith in the individual, even 
when crowned with the tiara of virtue, genius, and power, 
the church proclaimed to the world that the Vicar of Christ 
is infallible. There seemed to be many reasons why she 
should not then, at least, make this solemn declaration. A 
European crisis was impending ; the temporal power of the 
Pope was threatened ; at any moment he might be driven 
into exile ; many Catholics, eminent for virtue and learning, 
seemed to doubt and hesitate ; the Protestant and infidel 
press of two worlds was awaiting in anxious expectation 
the proclamation of the dogma, that it might shout with its 
hundred mouths to the four corners of the earth that at 
length the hands of her own children had signed the death- 
warrant of the church: and yet the solemn promulgation 
was made. These voices of the children of time passed 
unheeded by the ear of her whose eye, in enraptured gaze, 
is fixed on eternity. 

Archbishop Spalding had always believed in the infalli¬ 
bility of the Pope. This belief was a tradition with the 
Maryland Catholics, fostered and rendered stronger by the 
Jesuit fathers, who for so many years were their only reli- 


The Vatican Council. 


383 


gious teachers. His fathers had taken this faith with them 
to Kentucky. It was the doctrine which he had received 
from Flaget and David. Neither the Catholics of Maryland 
nor their descendants in Kentucky were tainted with even 
a tinge of Gallicanism. Indeed, it may be affirmed that, as 
far as we have a tradition in this country, it is thoroughly 
orthodox. It is the special pride of the American Church 
that it has not only been faithful to the Vicar of Christ, but 
has ever had for him the tenderest devotion. 

“ Thank God,” wrote Archbishop Spalding to Cardinal 
Cullen in 1866, just after the close of the Second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore—“ thank God, we are Roman to the 
heart.’’ The confession of faith of both the Plenary Coun¬ 
cils of Baltimore is as full and complete on this point as it 
was then possible to make it. When, after the convocation 
of the Vatican Council, the question, whether or not it 
would be opportune to define the infallibility of the Pope, 
first began to be discussed, Archbishop Spalding inclined to 
the opinion that a formal definition would be unnecessary and 
possibly inexpedient. He thought that Gallicanism was dead, 
and that Catholics everywhere believed in the infallibility of 
the Holy See. Hence, he argued, there could be no neces¬ 
sity for a formal definition. He believed, too, that much 
time would be consumed in conciliary debate, in case the 
question of fixing the precise limits of Papal infallibility 
should be submitted to the fathers. 

These considerations led him to think that the most 
proper way of proclaiming the dogma of Papal infallibility 
would be to condemn all errors opposed to it; and this was 
his opinion when he went to the Council. It was, however, 
merely an opinion, formed, as he himself felt, without a 
perfect knowledge of all the circumstances in the case, and 
one which, upon fuller information, he might see cause to 


3^4 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


change. He was not a partisan. He had in him none of 
the stuff out of which partisans are made. He was simply a 
Catholic bishop, who had never belonged to a party either in 
the church or out of it. 

On the 27th of March, 1869, eight months before the 
assembling of the Council, he wrote as follows to a distin¬ 
guished theologian who was at that time in Rome: 

“ I believe firmly the infallibility of the Pope, but incline 
to think its formal definition unnecessary and perhaps inex¬ 
pedient, not only for the reasons which you allege, but also 
on account of the difficulty of fixing the precise limits of 
doctrinal decisions. Where they are formal, as in the case 
of the Immaculate Conception, there is no difficulty. But 
are all the declarations of encyclicals, allocutions, and simi¬ 
lar documents to be received as doctrinal definitions ? 
And what about the decisions of congregations, confirmed 
by the Pope ? ” 

And again, in August, he wrote: 

“ While maintaining the high Roman ground of ortho¬ 
doxy, I caution much prudence in framing constitutions.” 

In both these letters, Archbishop Spalding seems to take 
for granted that a definition will be made ; and he simply 
indicates his preference for an implicit rather than a formal 
definition. 

In August, 1869, two months before leaving for the 
Council, he wrote to Cardinal Barnabo, giving his views on 
various subjects which he supposed would be brought before 
the fathers. One of these he designates as “ The Infalli¬ 
bility of the Sovereign Pontiff teaching ex cathedral* “ I 

have not,” he says, “ the least doubt of this infallibility, and 
there are very few bishops who do* doubt of it. The only 
question which may, perhaps, arise will relate to the utility, 
advisability, and necessity of making an explicit definition in 


The Vatican Council. 


385 


the Council. It will have to be considered whether a defini¬ 
tion of this kind would not be likely to excite controversies 
now slumbering and almost extinct; whether an implicit 
definition—an amplification of that of the Council of Flo¬ 
rence—which would define the dogma without using the 
word, would not be more opportune and of greater service 
to the cause of the church. 

“ Should the fathers deem it expedient to make a formal 
definition, its limits should be accurately marked, and, in the 
accompanying doctrinal exposition, statement should be 
made whether and how far, in the intention of the fathers, 
this infallibility should be extended to pontifical letters, 
allocutions, encyclicals, bulls, and other documents of this 
nature.’* 

This letter affords sufficient evidence that Archbishop 
Spalding had all along contemplated the contingency of 
an explicit definition, and that he did not look upon it 
with any alarm. In fact, he held that a definition, either 
implicit or explicit, was necessary. If he did not, in the 
beginning, advocate a formal definition, he was still less 
in favor of abstaining from the unmistakable affirmation 
of the faith of the church on this point. 

His views with regard to what was called the opportunity 
of the definition were, at the time he left home to'go to the 
Council, based upon his knowledge of the state of the 
public mind in the church of this country. No one with 
us called in question the infallibility of the Pope; his 
declarations had always been received by the Catholics 
of this country with the greatest reverence. Hence, in 
view of what had been the general practice of the church, 
he did not see any reason for making a formal definition 
of a dogma which, as he thought, was not doubted by 
Catholics. 



386 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

Of the religious thought and of the precise bearing of 
the currents of Catholic opinion in Europe, he, of course, 
could not be thoroughly informed, and his views were there¬ 
fore subject to the modifications which developments in this 
direction might produce. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


THE VATICAN COUNCIL —■ THE POSTULATUM OF ARCH¬ 
BISHOP SPALDING — LETTER TO BISHOP DUPANLOUP. 

HEN Archbishop Spalding arrived in Rome, he 
drew up a Postulatum , embodying the ideas 
which he had advanced in his letter to the Holy 
See, written a few months before the assem¬ 
bling of the Council. This Postulatum , which was entitled 
“ A Schema for the clear and logical definition of the Infal¬ 
libility of the Roman Pontiff, in accordance with the prin¬ 
ciples already received by the Church,” is the one which, 
as I have been informed, all the bishops of the United 
States had originally intended to sign. It certainly asserts 
the infallibility of the Pope in the most unmistakable man¬ 
ner, and some of the leaders of “ the opposition ” objected to 
it that it was even more comprehensive than would be 
the simple definition of the Pope’s infallibility. The Lon¬ 
don Tablet said that it was evidently from the hand of a 
consummate theologian, and was another document prov¬ 
ing the universality of the belief in the infallibility of the 
Pope. 

The following is a translation of this Postulatum : 

“ In the chapter on the Roman Pontiff, after condemning, 
in the first place, the errors concerning his primacy, the 
following or similar words might be added : 

“ ‘ We altogether reprobate the temerity of those who 
dare to appeal from the judgments of the Sovereign Pon¬ 
tiff to a general council. 

“ ‘ In the next place, we wholly condemn the perverse 






388 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

cavils of those who presume to say that external submis¬ 
sion, without the internal assent of the mind and heart, 
are to be given to the judgments of the Roman Pontiff. 

“ ‘ Moreover, we utterly reject the method of speaking and 
teaching adopted by those who, imagining a rash and pre¬ 
posterous division between the collective episcopate and the 
Supreme Pcntiff, dispute as to which of the two is the 
greater, and thus endeavor to separate and disjoin the head 
from the body, Peter from the church; as if an assembly of 
brothers, whom Peter is commanded, even in his successors, 
to confirm, could ever be severed from him whose faith, by 
the promise of Christ, shall never fail; or as if they who are 
to be taught and confirmed by Peter could ever lawfully 
teach and confirm in opposition to him. 

“ ‘ Nor do we condemn less severely the opinion and mode 
of action of those who, in order that they may be able 
more freely to propagate errors condemned by the Roman 
Pontiff, are not ashamed to insinuate that the true sense of 
the books from which the condemned propositions have 
been taken was not rightly understood by him.’ 

“ These propositions are further explained and confirmed 
by what follows: 

“ 1. The bishops of nearly the whole Catholic world, lately 
assembled in Rome, have shown these views to be theirs 
in the remarkable words in which they addressed the hap¬ 
pily-reigning Sovereign Pontiff: ‘Your voice has never been 
silent. To announce to men the eternal truths; to strike 
with the sword of the apostolic word errors which attack at 
once the natural and the supernatural order, and threaten 
to undermine the very foundations of authority, both civil 
and ecclesiastical; to dispel the darkness with which perverse 
and recent doctrines have obscured the minds of men; to 
proclaim without fear; to persuade and recommend whatever 
is necessary or useful to the welfare, whether of individuals, 


The Postulatum of Archbishop Spalding . 389 


or of the Christian family, or of civil society—these are the 
duties which you have considered to belong to your min¬ 
istry, that all may be brought to know what a Catholic 
should believe, profess, and practise. We return thanks to 
your Holiness for this attentive solicitude, for which we shall 
ever be grateful; and believing that by the mouth of Pius 
Peter has spoken, whatever for the preservation of the sacred 
deposit you have said, confirmed, announced, we also say, 
confirm, and announce; and with one voice and heart we 
reject whatever you have judged worthy of condemnation, 
as contrary to divine faith, the salvation of souls, and the 
welfare of human society.’ * 

“2. For the living and infallible authority exists only in 
that church which, built by Christ our Lord on Peter, the 
Head, Prince, and Pastor of the whole church, whose faith he 
has promised shall never fail, has its lawful pontiffs, descend¬ 
ing without intermission from Peter himself, placed in his 
chair, the heirs and defenders of his doctrine, dignity, honor, 
and power. And since where Peter is, there is the church; 
and he lives ever and judges in his successors, and gives, to 
them who seek, the truth of faith : therefore the divine words 
are to be received plainly in that sense which has held and 
still holds the Roman chair of the blessed Peter; which, 
mother and mistress of all the churches, has ever preserved 
intact and inviolate the faith delivered by Christ our Lord, 
which she has taught the faithful, showing to all the way 
of salvation and the doctrine of incorrupt truth.” 

“ Reasons why the above Schema is thought to be more 
expedient: 

“1. It may be confidently hoped that a Schema of this 
nature would meet with- the approval of almost all the 

* These words are taken from the reply of the bishops to the allocution 
of Pius IX, on the occasion of the centenaty of St. Peter, July I, 1867. 
Nearly five hundred bishops signed the address. 


390 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


fathers, and would be confirmed by their quasi-unanimous 
suffrage; for it contains the certain and incontestable prin¬ 
ciples of Catholic doctrine, now received by the universal 
church, which all acknowledge and profess, the exceptions 
being so few that no account of them need be taken. 

“ 2. This full consent of all, or at least of nearly all, the 
fathers is not only expedient, but seems to be altogether 
required, when the question is one of defining a point of 
doctrine, especially in a matter of such importance that, if 
this were possible, it should be defined without a dissenting 
voice. 

“ 3. At this present time, unanimity seems to be altogether 
necessary, on account of rumors which have been spread 
among the people, and are on all sides believed, to the effect 
that, concerning this matter, there is great discord among 
the fathers. A definition unanimously pronounced by the 
fathers would utterly shut the mouths of those who are now 
so rashly boasting, and it would give the greatest edification 
to the church. In truth, we have enemies enough outside 
the fold, without our exciting or appearing in any way to 
cherish dissensions in the very camp of the church herself. 

“4. The proposed method of defining by implication,, al¬ 
though it be indirect, seems to excel, both in force and sim¬ 
plicity ; for it is clearer, and perhaps contains more than 
would a formal and explicit definition. The latter will fur¬ 
nish theologians with many opportunities of raising ques¬ 
tions. There will be perpetual discussions among them as 
to where and under what circumstances the Roman Pontiff 
is to be believed to have addressed all the faithful, and to 
have pronounced an infallible judgment. All those ques¬ 
tions will still remain undecided which hitherto, even among 
the most pious defenders of the Pontifical infallibility, have 
been agitated concerning the public and the private teach¬ 
ing of the Pope, the true meaning of the expression, ex 


The Postulatum of Archbishop Spalding, 


39i 


cathedra , and the matters which strictly relate to faith and 
morals. Perhaps questions of this kind will burst forth 
with even greater violence, and will be treated with still 
warmer feeling. 

“ 5 - B u t in the proposed Schema of definition, no express 
distinction is made, n*or is any required; for it joins the iner¬ 
rancy of the Roman Pontiff with the infallibility of the 
church herself, and presents it as a logical consequence, and 
as a corollary of the Primacy itself; so that the infallibility 
of the church, and the divinely conferred Primacy, are made 
equally conspicuous, and are contained within the same 
limits ; and these principles of the faith have been suffi¬ 
ciently fixed and determined even from the very infancy of 
the church. Now, the force of a formal definition woulds 
be extended to all past ages, and would easily open the 
whole field of ecclesiastical history and the entire collection 
of Pontifical documents to the argumentations of theolo¬ 
gians, and to the now nearly extinct accusations of heretics, 
and wicked men against the Roman Pontiff.” 

Schema pro infallibilitate romani roNTiFicis ex principiis jam ab- 

ECCLESIA UNIVERSA RECEPTIS LOGICE CLAREQUE DEFINIENDA. 

In ipso' capite de Romano Pontifice, damnatis primo loco erroribus contra ejns- 
f Hina turn, hcec et similia, si placeat, adjungi potcrunt: 

1. Omnino reprobamus eorum temeritatem, qui a summi Pontificis 
supremis judiciis ad concilium cecumenicum appellare audent. 

2. Deinde prorsus damnamus perversas eorum cavillationes, qui dicere 
audent externum quidem obsequium, non autem internum mentis cordisque 
assensum Romani Pontificis judiciis esse praestandum. 

3. Insuper omnino improbamus eorum loquendi et docendi rationem, 
qui temeraria quadam et praepostera divisione inter coetum Episcoporum et 
summum Pontificem excogitata, disputant uter eorum videatur esse major, 
et sic caput a corpore, Petrum ab Ecclesia distrahere et sejungere conantur: 
quasi fratrum coetus, quos Petrus etiam in successoribus suis confirmat ur 
jubetur, posset unquam ab illo desciscere, cujus tides ex Christi promis- 
sione nunquam deficiet; aut iis qui a Petro docendi sunt et confirmandi, 
ipsum contra docere et confirmare liceret. 


392 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


6. Neque minus reprobandum judicamus illorum sententiam et agcndi 
rationem, qui, ut errores a Romano Pontifice damnatos in vulgus diffundere 
liberius valeant dictitare non verentur verum sensum librorum, ex quibus 
damnatae hujusmodi propositvones excerptae sunt, a Pontifice baud rite intel- 
lectum fuisse. 

Qua quidem omnia illustrantur confirmanturquc ab cis qua sequuntur. 

1. Atque ita quidem sentire se luculenter testatus est totius fere catholici 
orbis Episcopatus nuperrime Romae congregatus, dum summum Pontificem 
feliciter regnantem praeclaris hisce verbis allocutus est: u Non enim unquam 
obticuit os tuum. Tu aeternas veritates annuntiare, Tu saeculi errores natu- 
ralem supernaturalemque rerum ordinem atque ipsa ecclesiasticae civilisque 
potestatis fundamenta subvertere minitantes Apostolici eloquii gladio con- 
jfigere, Tu caliginem novarum doctrinarum pravitate mentibus ofFusam dis- 
pellere, Tu quae necessaria ac salutaria sunt turn singulis hominibus, turn 
Christianae familiae, turn civili societati, intrepide affari, suadere, commendare 
•supremi Tui ministerii es arbitratus : ut tandem cuncti assequantur quid 
‘hominem Catholicum tenere, servare, ac profited oporteat. Pro qua eximia 
■ cura maximas Sanctitati Tuae gratias agimus, habituri sumus sempiternas ; 

Petrumque per os Pii locutum credentes, quae ad custodiendum depositum a 
Te dicta confirmata, prolata sunt, nos quoque dicimus, confirmamus, annun- 
'tiamus ; unoque ore atque animo rejicimus, omnia quae divinae fidei, saluti 
animarum, ipsi societatis humanae bono adversa, Tu ipse reprobanda ac 
rejicienda judicasti.” * 

2 . Nam “viva et infallibilis auctoritas in ea tantumviget Ecclesia, quae a 
Christo Domino super Petrum, totius Ecclesiae caput, principem et pastorem, 
cujus fidem nunquam defuturam promisit, aedificata, suos legitimos semper 
habet Pontifices, sine intermissione ab ipso Petro ducentes originem in ejus 
cathedra collocatos, et ejusdem etiam doctrinae, dignitatis, honoris, ac potes¬ 
tatis haeredes et vindices. Et quoniam ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia f ac Petrus 
per Rornanum Pontificem loquitur,:}: et semper in suis successoribus vivit et 
judicium exercet,§ ac praestat quaerentibus fidei veritatem ;|| idcirco divina 

■eloquia eo plane sensu sunt accipienda, quern tenuit ac tenet haec Romana 
beatissimi Petri cathedra, quae omnium Ecclesiarum mater et magistral 
fidem a Christo Domino traditam, integram inviolatamque semper servavit, 
eamque fideles edocuit omnibus ostendens salutis semitam et incorruptae 
veritatis doctrinam.” ** 

* Responsio Episcoporum ad SS. D. N. Allocutionem, in solemn, saec. Martyrii SS. 
Petri et Pauli, die i Julii, 1867 ; cui Responsioni subscripserunt quingenti fere episcopi. 

+ S. Ambrosius in Ps. xl. % Concil. Chalced., act. li. 

§ Synodus Ephes., act. iii. |j S. Petrus Chrysol., in Epist. ad Eutych. 

T Concil. Trid. Ses. vii. de Bapt. 

** SS. D. N. Epistola Encycl., 9 Novemb., 1846, a Concilio Baltimorensi Plenario II. 
-felata, in Decrcto de Hierarchia, cap. ii. pp. 42, 43. 


The Postulatum of Archbishop Spalding . 393 


Rationes ob quas schema supra proposition inagis expedire creditur. 

I. Primo sperari tuto potest, fore ut hujusmodi schema Patribus quasi 
universis magis arrideat, et eorum unanimi fere suflfragio confirmetur. Con- 
tinet enim certa et inconcussa doctrinae catholicae principia jam in universa 
Ecclesia recepta, quaeque agnoscunt et profitentur omnes, paucis exceptis, 
quorum numerus adeo exiguus est, ut ejus nulla ratio habenda videatur. 

II. Plena haec Patrum omnium (vel saltern fere omnium) consensio non 
solum expedit, sed omnino postulari videtur, quando agitur de capite doc¬ 
trinae definiendo : praesertim in re tanti momenti; quae sane nemine (si id 
fieri possit) dissentiente definiri deberet. 

III. Hoc autem tempore ejusmodi unanimitas summopere necessaria 
videtur, ob voces in vulgus sparsas et ubique creditas, quibus magna inter 
Patres hac de re discordna esse perhibetur. Unanimis Patrum definitiohos- 
tibus nostris sic temere gloriantibus os penitus obstrueret, et maximam 
Ecclesiae Dei aedificationem pareret. Profecto satis hostium externorum 
habemus, quin in ipsis Ecclesiae castris nova dissidia excitemus, vel ullo 
modo fovere videamur. 

IV. Propositus implicite definiendi modus, quamvis sit indirectus, vide¬ 
tur tamen turn vi turn simplicitate praestare. Clarior enim est, ac pluraforsan 
continet, quam definitio formalis et explicita. Haec enim,plures cavillandi 
locos theologis suppeditabit. Disceptabitur perpetuo inter eos, quando et 
quibus rerum adjunctis Romanus Pontifex omnes Christi fideles allocutus 
fuisse et infallibile judicium protulisse credendus sit. Indecisae adhuc 
manebunt omnes illae quaestiones, etiam inter piissimos Pon-tificiae infalli- 
bilitatis propugnatores hactenus agitatae, de persona Pontificis docentis 
publica et privata, de vera locutionis ex cathedra significatione, de rebus quae 
ad fidem moresque vere spectant. Imo violentius forsan erumpent hujus¬ 
modi quaestiones, et longe majori animi contentione pertractabuntur. 

V. In proposito autem definiendi Schemate nulla fit nullaque requiritur 
distinctio expressa; nam inerrantiam Romani Pontificis cum Ecclesiae 
ipsius infallibilitate intime conjungit, eamque veluti logicam ipsius prima- 
tus sequelam et veluti corollarium exhibet, adeo ut tam late pateatiisdemque 
limitibus contineatur ac ipsa Ecclesiae infallibilitas ipseque divinitus consti- 
tutus Primatus ; quae quidem fidei principia jam ab Ecclesiae ipsius primor- 
diis satis fixa et determinata sunt. Hujusmodi igitur definiendi ratione, 
ansa nulla praebetur sive theologis, sive fidelibus, dubitandi aut cavillandi 
circa jussa et decreta S. Pontificis, cujus sapientissimo consilio, dum pascit 
tam agnos quam oves, sicut decet filios erga Patrem, omnia reverenter et 
amanter relinquuntur dirimenda. 

VI. Demum haec definiendi ratio, dum fixa quaedum et immota principia 
ubique recepta asserit, simul hoc commodi habet, ut non solum Christianis 


394 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


omnibus infallibilem in fidei morumque rebus, nullo dubitandivel cavillandi 
loco relicto, credendi et agendi normam proponat, sed etiam futurorum 
prsecipue temporum bono prospiciat. Formalis vero definitio, cum vi sua ad 
omnia etiam retroacta saecula protenderetur, facile universum liistorise eccle 
siasticae campum totumque Bullarium Theologorum cavillationibus et hae- 
reticorum impiorumque adversus Romanos Pontifices criminationibus, jam 
fere sopitis, aperiret. 

This Postulatum , which embodies the views that Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding had held from the time the question first 
began to be agitated, undoubtedly contains a very clear 
and forcible affirmation of the infallibility of the Pope. In 
fact, Archbishop Spalding thought that the terms therein 
employed would more effectually stop all cavil than a 
more formal definition. He advocated it, not as a com¬ 
promise between those who affirmed and those who denied 
the infallibility of the Pope, but as the most practical and 
least objectionable form in which the definition could be 
drawn up. 

“ The present method,” he says, “ of defining by impli¬ 
cation, although it be indirect, seems to excel both in force 
and simplicity; for it is clearer, and, perhaps, contains 
more than would a formal definition.” And, in fact, this 
was an objection made to Archbishop Spalding’s Postula¬ 
tum by those who opposed the introduction of the question 
of infallibility into the Council. From this Postulatum , then, 
and from the letters which he wrote to Rome before the assem¬ 
bling of the Council, it is evident that Archbishop Spalding 
was opposed neither to the infallibility of the Pope nor to 
the opportuneness of its definition by the Council, but that 
he favored a definition by implication in preference to an 
explicit affirmation of the dogma. 

It is only in the light of this certain fact that the 
rationes added to the Schema , which afterwards were so 
prominently brought into the controversy on infallibility, 
may be properly viewed. They must be taken in the con- 


The Postnlatum of Archbishop Spalding. 395 

nection in which the author of the Postulatum adduces 
them. He brings them forward, not as arguments against 
a definition of Papal infallibility; on the contrary, he urges 
them as reasons for making what he holds to be a clear 
and logical definition of this dogma. Others are free to 
think that they prove more or less than their author in¬ 
tended they should prove; but since he in this very docu¬ 
ment makes the clearest statement of what he desires the 
Council to define concerning the infallibility of the Pope, it 
is simply absurd to seek by refinement of logical deductions 
to make him responsible for what he openly rejects. Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding’s chief motive, and the only one which in 
his own mind was of palmary importance, in favoring an 
implicit definition, was that he thought a Schema of this 
kind would secure the unanimous, or quasi-unanimous, vote 
of the fathers, and thus prevent that of which he naturally 
had the greatest horror, and which he considered as most 
contrary to the spirit of Christ and the church—discord and 
strife. What Protestants would think of the definition, or 
how it would be received by what is called the spirit of the 
age, were matters which did not trouble him. He had lived 
too long among Protestants and in the breath of this world 
to be frightened by idle theories on these subjects. 

A short time after this memorial was drawn up, Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding was made a member of the deputation of 
twelve cardinals and fourteen prelates, appointed by the 
Holy Father, to whose judgment all Pos'tulata had to be 
submitted before they c'ould be brought befo're the Council. 
In this new position, he felt that both propriety and 
fairness should prevent him from longer taking part in 
movements to bring special matters before the Council, 
and he therefore abstained from taking further steps to 
bring the Postulatum to the notice of the Fathers. It was, 
however, looked upon as an important document in connec- 


396 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


tion with the history of the definition of papal infallibility, 
from the fact that it was generally thought to represent the 
views of a considerable number of the bishops of the Coun¬ 
cil, who were called “ the third party.” As the controversy 
on the opportuneness of defining the infallibility waxed 
warmer, and as those who were adverse became more deter¬ 
mined in their opposition, they sought to force “ the third 
party,” or those who were in favor of an implicit definition, 
to pronounce openly for their side, since the project of 
definition by implication had fallen through. 

The famous brochure, Ce qui se passe au Concile , which 
appeared in May, after the assembling of the Council, thus 
speaks of what was called “ the third party ”: “ They know 
now that their separation from the minority, far from serving 
the cause of moderation, has seriously compromised it; by 
their concessions, they have only emboldened the extremists, 
without having been able to restrain them, and without even 
having obtained respect for their own opinions. The situa¬ 
tion is critical. They (the third party) hold within their 
hands the fate of the Council. What will they do ? We 
shall be greatly surprised should these wise prelates permit 
to mature in silence the events which threaten us, the irre¬ 
parable calamity of which they would be the first to de¬ 
plore.” * 

Bishop Dupanloup, in his reply to Archbishop Dechamps, 
dated March i, 1870, repeatedly makes use of the rationes 
of the Postulatum of Archbishop Spalding to prove that 
the bishops, whose views this Postulatum embodied, were or 
should be opposed to the definition of the infallibility of 
the Pope. Now, it must be borne in mind that Archbishop 
Spalding, in his Postulatum, expressly demands the definition 
of Pontifical infallibility. The document was drawn up, in 
fact, under the firm persuasion that the infallibility of the 
* Page 122. 


Letter to Bishop Dupanloup. 


397 


Pope would be defined by the Council. The only question 
which its author considered open to discussion was whether 
the definition should be formal or implied. The rationes 
annexed to the Postulatum were, indeed, intended to con¬ 
clude against an explicit definition ; but they were not 
advanced for the purpose of showing that the Council 
should abstain from defining the dogma of Papal infalli¬ 
bility. Hence, to urge them when the question had been 
narrowed down to an explicit definition, or none at all, was* 
carrying them beyond the purpose for which they had been 
drawn up. 

It did not follow that Archbishop Spalding, because he 
was in favor of a definition by implication, should prefer no 
definition to a formal one. 

He felt that the use which had been made of the 
rationes would tend to place him in a false position, and he 
had no thought of being made to assume whatever attitude 
might best suit the purposes of the verbal fencers who 
were waging war at the doors of the Council. He therefore, 
on the 4th of April, 1870, addressed a letter to Bishop Du¬ 
panloup, of which the following is a translation: 

“ My Lord : 

“ In a letter which your lordship has just written to the 
Archbishop of Malines, you do me an honor for which I 
cannot thank you. You quote repeatedly a Postulatum 
which, in concert with many of my venerable colleagues, 

I deemed it my duty to present to the Council at a time 
when the question of Pontifical infallibility was far from the 
degree of maturity at which it has now arrived. While 
several bishops, entirely devoted to the Holy See, still 
doubted whether it was opportune to introduce this ques¬ 
tion, we asked, in our Postulatum, that it should be defined 
in such a manner as to obtain the concurrence of all the 


398 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


members of the august assembly. But your citations are 
so arranged as to lead your readers to suppose that we are 
averse, if not to the truth, at least to the opportuneness, of 
this definition ; and, consequently, to class us with what 
certain journals choose to call the 1 party of the opposition * 
in the Council. Your lordship, it is true, does not consider 
our opposition sufficiently decided, and, after having availed 
yourself of our proposition in every part of your letter, you 
‘finally throw it aside as people fling away a weapon which 
is no longer serviceable. This mode of action is no doubt 
very flattering to us; but it does not prevent your lordship 
from attempting to place us among your allies—a character 
which we feel compelled to repudiate. There is no justifica¬ 
tion for the effort which has been made to represent us as 
opposed to the plain and honest declaration of the general 
belief of the church with respect to the infallibility of the 
Vicar of Jesus Christ. The fifth paragraph of our rationcs 
expresses the faith of the subscribers on this subject in a 
manner which leaves no room for doubt. In our project of 
definition, we intimately unite the infallibility of the Roman 
Pontiff with the infallibility of the church, and we propose 
the first as a logical consequence and corollary of the Primacy, 
in such sort that it extends as far as, and acknowledges no 
other limits than, the infallibility of the church and the 
divinely constituted Primacy itself, which are principles of 
faith, fixed and determined from the very origin of Chris¬ 
tianity. We believe, then, that this mode of definition has 
the advantage that it furnishes no pretext, either to theolo¬ 
gians or the faithful, of doubting or disputing about the 
commands and decrees of the Sovereign Pontiff, to whose 
most wise sentence, by which the sheep as well as the lambs 
are guided, everything must be lovingly and reverently com¬ 
mitted, as becomes children in their relations with a father.” * 
*In our Schema, we also quoted a most significant passage from the 


Letter to Bishop Dupanloup. 


399 


“ Such, my lord, was the sole design of those who drew up 
the Postulatum , so incorrectly interpreted by you. Their 
intention was not to hide the light under a bushel, or to 
put a veil over the belief of the church. They desired, on 
the contrary, to find a mode of definition which should 
guard this belief from every attack, and obtain for it, both 
from pastors and people, a more unanimous adhesion. They 
had thought that this end might be attained by fixing the 
doctrine of infallibility practically and in concreto , rather 
than by affirming it in an abstract formula. They proposed, 
therefore, to define—- 

“ i. That no appeal from the judgments of the Sovereign 
Pontiff is lawful. 

“ 2. That every Christian is bound to give to these deci¬ 
sions interior assent, and not merely respectful silence. 

“ 3. That Gallicanism, by separating the body of bishops 
from the Sovereign Pontiff, and giving to them the right to 
reform his judgments, destroys the order established by 
Jesus Christ, according to which Peter is to confirm his 
brethren, and not to receive confirmation from them. 

“ 4. That the decisions of the Pope are not less sovereign 


address presented to the Sovereign Pontiff by the five hundred bishops 
assembled in Rome at the centenary of St. Peter. Your lordship cannot 
have forgotten this address, which you helped to compose ; and I ask 
myself, with surprise, how you can to-day think it inopportune to define a 
doctrine which, at least in substance, was so loudly proclaimed on that so¬ 
lemn occasion. Finally, to remove the possibility of doubt as to our past or 
present belief, we quoted a decree, of the Second Plenary Council of Balti¬ 
more, in which, adopting a sentence from the first encyclical of Pius IX., 
the American episcopate declares that it recognizes no living and infallible 
authority, except in that church which was built by our Lord Jesus Christ 
upon Peter, Chief, Prince, and Pastor of the universal church, to whom he 
promised that his faith should never fail. Is it not strange that any one 
should attempt to represent as inopportunists in Rome, bishops .who in their 
own country have already promulgated such a decree ? 


400 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


in the declaration of dogmatic facts than in the determina¬ 
tion of purely doctrinal questions. 

“ Each of the four propositions here enumerated evidently 
implies infallibility, and it is therefore an entire miscon¬ 
struction of the thought of those who solicited this solemn 
definition to represent them as favorable to the opinion of 
the inopportunists. And it must be added, my lord, that it 
is not my doctrine alone that your letter presents under a 
form so remote from the truth. In a note furnished to you, 
you tell us, by a learned theologian, belonging to an illus¬ 
trious order, you quote a certain number of writers as 
sharing your opinion, and among them you place my vener¬ 
able predecessor in the see of Baltimore, the Most Rev. 
Francis P. Kenrick. I know not what your other citations 
may be worth ; and, if I may believe persons who have 
found leisure to verify them, your lordship, in accepting 
them blindly, has been the dupe of a too great confidence. 
What I can affirm is this: that it is impossible, without 
injustice, to attribute to Archbishop Kenrick a doctrine at 
variance with that of the immense majority of Catholic 
doctors. In his Dogmatic Theology , that prelate has a 
special article, entitled De Definitionibus Pontificiis , in which 
he is not content with declaring his belief in the infallibility 
of such definitions, but refutes, with a conciseness which in 
no way impairs the triumphant vigor of his replies, the 
objections which both the earlier and later Gallicans have 
drawn from the facts in the history of Liberius, Honorius, 
and other Pontiffs.* 

“ You will, no doubt, be surprised, my lord, that a learned 
theologian, belonging to an illustrious order, should have 
allowed himself so palpable a perversion of the truth in 
connection with a work which we all have in our hands ; and 
this may lead you to suspect that there is a school of falsi- 
* Tract, de Eccles. de Tribunals Doct p. 240, Mech. 


Letter to Bishop Dupanloup. 


401 


fication, quite other than that which defends Pontifical infal¬ 
libility. One correction more, and I shall conclude. Your 
lordship turns to good account that passage of our memorial 
in which we express the desire that the definition of the 
doctrinal sovereignty of the Pope should be pronounced 
with perfect unanimity— quiz sane nemine , si id fieri possit 
dissentiente , definiri deberct. 

“ The word deberet , which you write in capital letters, yous 
translate by it faut , and you remark that this is the strict 
sense of the word, which does not signify, you say, it would 
be desirable or preferable; but, it must. The signers of the- 
memorial are thus transformed by your lordship into decided 
advocates of the new theory, according to which unanimity 
is required for the validity of doctrinal definitions. 

“ We earnestly protest against such an interpretation of our 
thoughts, and to reject it there is no need of our invoking 
tradition, so plainly contrary to the theory which you impute 
to us; nor need we trouble ourselves to prove to you that 
such a theory involves nothing less than the destruction of 
the authority of the church ; it is enough for us to appeal to 
grammar. Though I am far from pretending to compare 
myself with your lordship in the knowledge of French, I 
think I may venture to affirm that the indicative absolute— 
it faut —has not, in that language, the sense of the Latin 
optative, deberet; especially when this optative is still further 
softened by various attenuating phrases— si fieri possit , vide- 
tur y etc. It seems to me plain that if we are to choose 
between the two translations indicated by your lordship— 
it must , or it would be desirable —that precisely which you 
reject is the one which ought to be preferred, as by far the 
more exact. 

“ Such, indeed, is our thought. It seems to us most 
desirable, and more necessary than ever in the present cir¬ 
cumstances, that in all the acts of the Council, especially in 


402 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


that which is most fought against, the Catholic episcopate 
should present itself to the world—to believers as to unbe¬ 
lievers—surrounded with the glory and clothed with the 
strength which unanimity gives. But from the necessity of 
this accord, it has never entered our minds to conclude that 
the majority is bound to yield to the minority. We sought 
rather to remove the obstacles created, much less by the 
substance than by the form of the question, which hindered 
the minority from agreeing with the majority. We have 
reason to believe that our efforts have not been fruitless. 
Our project, it is true, was not accepted by the Commission, 
which put it aside, with all the others that had been pre¬ 
sented, and drew up a new one. Though its adoption was 
not urged with the instance with which others have been 
pushed, the one which we composed has helped not a little 
to bring together several members of the Council, and to 
prepare the happy accord of which everything leads us to 
hope for the approaching consummation. We have not, 
indeed, succeeded, according to our earnest desire, in pre¬ 
venting the digging up of materials from the history of the 
past for scandalous discussions. Rash men have recklessly 
provoked these scandals, and have thus rendered useless the 
measures of conciliation which we had suggested. But per¬ 
haps there is no reason why we should complain very much 
of this. The discussion of the truth has been rendered more 
searching, and its complete manifestation by the Council 
less difficult. Already the question of opportuneness may 
be considered settled ; and we have every reason to believe 
that, when the Council shall be invited to pronounce upon 
the doctrine itself, its decision will be fortified with that 
moral unanimity which we continue to regard as most use¬ 
ful. What is certain, my lord, is that all of us, whether we 
have signed the various postulata , or have abstained from 
doing so, have henceforth but two courses before us—we 


Letter to Bishop Dupanloup. 


403 


must place ourselves squarely either on the side of the 
Pope or on that of his opponents. The Catholic episco¬ 
pate has long since made its choice ; and the fathers of the 
Vatican, by proclaiming as an article of faith the duty of 
never separating from the successor of St. Peter, will walk 
in the footsteps of their predecessors. With the grace of 
God, I shall never stray from the glorious paths in which 
our young church of America has followed up to this hour 
with unshaken fidelity ; and it is in order to render all doubt 
as to my resolution in this matter impossible that I think it 
my duty publicly to repudiate the false impressions which 
may have been made by your letter. It had been my inten¬ 
tion to wait for the discussion in Council before making this 
protest ; but 'when I saw the increasing number of writings, 
of a nature to disturb the faith of Christians, I considered 
that it became the duty of the chief pastors to prepare their 
flocks to accept with hearty obedience the decisions of the 
Council. I should regard it as the greatest misfortune of 
my life to have contributed in any way to encourage even 
one of my brethren to falter in perfect obedience to the 
authority of the church. In associating me, in spite of 
myself, in your own struggles against a definition which has 
now become inevitable, your lordship burdens me with a 
portion of that frightful responsibility which nothing can 
induce me to accept, and thus imposes upon me the neces¬ 
sity of making a public statement of my personal conviction. 
But in performing this duty of conscience, I am not the 
less, my lord, your lordship’s respectful and devoted ser¬ 
vant, Martin John Spalding, 

“ Archbishop of Baltimore.” 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


THE DEFINITION OF PAPAL INFALLIBILITY NOT ONLY 
OPPORTUNE, BUT NECESSARY — DEVOTION OF THE 
AMERICAN CHURCH TO TPIE HOLY SEE. 

RCHBISHOP SPALDING had, as I have already 
stated, favored an implicit definition of Papal 
infallibility, chiefly because he thought such a 
definition would receive the quasi-unanimous 
vote of the fathers, and preclude all danger from the agita¬ 
tion of les questions irritantes , which had been held, like the 
sword of Damocles, over the head of the Council. 

At the time the letter to Bishop Dupanloup was written, 
four months had elapsed since the assembling of the bishops, 
and the via media had failed to accomplish the result hoped 
for by those who had advocated it, and affairs had taken 
such a shape that, as Archbishop Spalding said, but two 
courses lay before the bishops—either to place themselves 
openly on the side of the Pope or on that of the opposition. 
Not a few events had occurred in the meantime which were 
not without a very significant bearing upon the question of 
opportuneness. Undercurrents of thought, especially in Ger¬ 
many, but also in France and in other parts of the world, 
which had hitherto escaped the notice of all except the very 
observant, had been brought to the surface by the assem¬ 
bling of the Council. Qui assemble le penple , lenient , says a 
French proverb, and the church was agitated by the gather- 
ing together of its representatives from every part of the 
world. 

As the winds of heaven trouble the waters of the ocean even 
till they rise in rage and fury, and then pillow themselves 







Definition of Papal Infallibility. 


405 


upon their tranquil bosom, cleansed of “the perilous stuff,” 
so these conflicts brought to the surface some things which 
had to be swept away, and which, but for the agitation 
occasioned by the assembling of the Council, might have 
continued unnoticed to eat their way like a canker to the 
Catholic heart. God, it is true, is not in the storm or in the 
whirlwind, but these had to pass by before the divine calm 
of his presence could be felt. Writings had appeared in 
Germany and France, under the authority and patronage of 
great names, the tendency of which was to destroy, not 
merely faith in the infallibility of the Pope, but all respect 
for the Papacy. One could almost catch the feeble echoes 
of Luther’s rude phraseology. 

As the pseudo-reformers of the sixteenth century repre¬ 
sented the church as wholly corrupt, these illuminati of our 
day represented her as ignorant. The old spirit of nation¬ 
alism, as opposed to Catholicism, cropped out in rude and un¬ 
inviting forms. The scientific pride of Germany, and what 
was supposed to be the military hegemony of France, who 
loved to fight only for ideas, gave infinite confidence to the 
German and French opponents of the definition. The Ger¬ 
man science to which they appealed was as complete a sham 
as the military power of France proved to be a few months 
later. It would be impertinent, I know, in any man to say 
aught against the solid learning of Germany; but there existed 
in that country before the Council a school of what was sup¬ 
posed to be Catholic theology, but which was, in reality, an 
impossible rationalism, which but imperfectly succeeded in 
concealing itself beneath the forms of Catholic phraseology. 
The leaders in this school of thought held in self-com¬ 
placent vainglory that “ German science,” represented by 
them, was the only science; that the lamp of theological 
knowledge had been removed from Italy, and burned now 
in Germany alone; that the mantle of the prophets under 


406 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding . 


the old law had fallen upon the scientific theologians, whose 
office it had become to mould the public opinion of the 
church, to which her doctrinal decisions would be forced to 
conform.* 

The central point around which the varying shades of 
opinion of this party were grouped was that which forms 
the only bond of sympathy among the sects—antipathy to 
Rome and the successor of Peter, the representative of 
Catholic unity. The brilliant talents and great learning of 
some of these men had succeeded in winning for them dis¬ 
ciples in France and England, and possibly elsewhere, the 
tendency of whose writings was very hurtful to the sound¬ 
ness of Catholic faith. The assembling of the Vatican 
Council revealed many things in this connection which 
must have been quite new to bishops who had passed their 
lives in the arduous missionary duties of the United States, 
where Catholics have never known any other feeling toward 
the Pope than that of filial love. They at once saw that 
Gallicanism was not wholly dead, or that, if dead, it had 
been succeeded by a species of rationalistic nationalism, 
which was far worse. And—what could as little lay claim 
to the sympathies of American bishops—the attempt was 
made to induce the governments of Europe to interfere 
to prevent the definition. At the instigation of some of 

* Dr. Dollinger, in his lectures on the Reunion of the Churches , recently 
published, toward the close of the seventh and last lecture makes the fol¬ 
lowing statement: 

“ I have found it the almost universal conviction in foreign countries 
that it is the special mission of Germany to take the lead in this world-wide 
question [the fusion of the Catholic, Greek schismatic, and Protestant 
churches into one], and give to the movement its form, measure, and direc- 
t : on. We are the heart of Europe , richer in theologians than all other lands!' 

Hannibal Chollop says to Mark Tapley: “ We are a model to the airth, 
. . . We 4 are the intellect and virtue of the airth, the cream of human 

natur’, and the flower of moral force.”— Vide Dublin Review for January 
1873, p. 207. 


Definition of Papal' Infallibility . 


407 


the leaders of the German “scientific theologians,” the 
Bavarian Government, through Prince Hohenlohe, had 
begun a systematic agitation against the Council, in order 
to induce the European powers to agree upon some plan by 
which the definition of the infallibility of the Pope might 
be prevented. The avowed aim of the well-known Janus 
publication was to rouse the civil governments against the 
Council. 

After Prince Hohenlohe’s note to the various so-called 
Catholic governments, the Spanish minister, Olozaga, threat¬ 
ened the church with the hostility of a league to be formed 
by France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Bavaria. General 
Menabrea addressed a circular to his diplomatic agents, pro¬ 
posing to the powers to prevent the assembling of the 
Council, on the ground of their not having been invited to 
it. A joint despatch was sent by Prince Hohenlohe and the 
Italian Government to their representatives in France, urg¬ 
ing the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome during 
the Council, to insure freedom of deliberatioji. 

After the Council assembled, Count Daru, the French 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed a letter to the Holy 
See, with a view to prevent the definition; Von Beust, the 
Protestant Chancellor of Austria, sought to bring his influ¬ 
ence to bear in the same direction ; and their example was 
followed, more or less openly, by most of the other govern¬ 
ments of Europe. 

When Archbishop Spalding saw this alliance of the liberal 
or rationalistic Catholics with the governments of Europe 
for the purpose of preventing the definition of what, he 
held, had always been the faith of the church, he con¬ 
sidered, as he says in his letter to Bishop Dupanloup, the 
question of opportuneness at an end. The opposition had 
created the opportuneness, and had made the definition 
necessary. The church defines the truths of revelation 


4o8 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


when they are denied, and the hour had come when she 
could no longer remain silent upon this all-important article 
of faith. “Error, cui non rosistitnr , approbatur , et veritas , 
cum non defenditur , opprimeturd “ If the Gnosticism,” 
says Archbishop Manning, “ of what has well been called 
the Professordom of Germany had been allowed to spread 
its mixture of conceited illuminism and contemptuous 
rationalism for a few years longer, the faith of multitudes 
might have been irremediably lost; and Germany, which 
now presents the noblest fidelity and constancy in its epis¬ 
copate, in its priesthood, and in its laity, might have been a 
prey to the Old Catholic schism, or to the tyrannical liberal¬ 
ism of those who deify the civil power.” * 

Still another phase of the question had been revealed by 
the opposition. Though scarcely one of the bishops of the 
Council had opposed the definition for any other reason than 
that of inexpediency, yet the arguments which had been 
employed to establish this, had they been conclusive, would 
have had a much wider bearing. 

'“The historical difficulties,” which were made to bear the 
heat and brunt of the battle on the side of the inopportu¬ 
nists, had they been of any value, would have proved, not 
only that it was inopportune to define the infallibility of the 
Pope, but that it was impossible to define it, since popes 
had erred in what must be considered as ex cathedra defini¬ 
tions. What other conclusion was it possible to draw from 
the inopportunist interpretation of the facts in the cases of 
Popes Liberius, Honorius, Pascal II., and others? When 
the controversy had assumed this shape, the Council was 
forced either to declare the Pope infallible, or by its silence 
to admit that he was not infallible ; because, de facto , he had 
been guilty of error in the past. Here, again, the opposi- 


* Sermons on Eccles. Sub., vol iii., Introduct., p. 39. 


Definition of Papal Infallibility . 


409 


tion had created, not only the opportuneness, but the neces¬ 
sity of the definition. 

To that portion of his letter to Bishop Dupanloup in 
which he spoke of the unswerving devotion of the church 
of the United States to the Vicar of Christ, Archbishop 
Spalding added the following note: “If a special duty of 
gratitude obliges all the churches of the West to unbounded 
devotion to the Holy See, to which they owe all their privi¬ 
leges and their very existence, there is not one of them all 
which may be less permitted to forget this duty than the 
church of the United States, which but yesterday came 
forth from the maternal and ever-fruitful bosom of the Church 
of Rome. We were accordingly most happy, on the occa¬ 
sion of a recent visit of the Holy Father to the American 
College of the North, to assure him, in the name of our 
venerable brothers, who surrounded us, of our lively grati¬ 
tude and entire devotion to the Papacy. The acts of all 
our Councils, said we, and the letters addressed to your Holi¬ 
ness and to your predecessors by the episcopate of our coun¬ 
try, are evidence that we have always made profession of 
the greatest respect and the most ardent love for the suc¬ 
cessor of Peter. We have ever remained united with the 
chair of Peter, and nothing can separate us from it. And 
how could this not be, since from the very rise of religion in 
our country we have been watched over by the Sovereign 
Pontiffs with a constant and truly paternal solicitude ? For 
the rest, our veneration and our filial obedience have been 
abundantly blessed of God; and under our eyes the pro¬ 
mise of the Holy Ghost is fulfilled—‘ The obedient man 
shall recount his victories/ Sixty years ago, there was but 
one bishop in the United States; to-day we have sixty dio¬ 
ceses and vicariates apostolic. To popes who bore the 
name of Pius our church is especially indebted for its pro¬ 
gress. Pius VI, gave it its first bishop ; Pius VII. estab- 


4 io 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


lished the hierarchy and constituted the first ecclesiastical 
province; Pius IX. to this first province has added six 
others. Pius has planted; we have watered the vineyard 
according to the measure of our strength; and God has 
given the increase. . . . 

“ The sentiments which we expressed on this occasion 
had been proclaimed with much more solemnity and with 
greater authority in the various Acts of the Second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore, and especially in the letter to Pius 
IX., signed by the seven archbishops of the United States 
in the name of all their suffragans. Let it suffice to quote 
the final sentence of this letter, in which the fathers of the 
Council 1 submit their decrees to the examination and cor¬ 
rection of the Holy Father, resolved to recognize his voice 
as the voice of Peter speaking to them by the mouth of his 
successor.’ ” 

In the question of opportuneness, great weight was 
attached to the views of the American bishops. The 
church of the United States, all admitted, was growing 
rapidly. America was destined to be the home of civilized 
populations more numerous than those which at present 
inhabit Europe; and Catholics there, were already living 
under social conditions toward which Europe seemed to be 
approaching. 

The opposition felt that the support of the bishops of the 
New World would be most opportune. Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding said : American Catholics are Roman Catholics; and 
they will stand with the Pope, if such a thing were possible, 
against all the bishops in the world ; and his words were 
grand, not because he uttered them, but because they were 
spoken in the fit hour, and proclaimed the living faith of a 
young but great and vigorous church. Why, we Catholics 
of Irish and English descent had been baptized Papists in 
three centuries of blood and cruelty; and were we now, in 


Definition of Papal Infallibility . 


411 


mere wantonness, to give up the glorious title of our nobil¬ 
ity? “O Church of Rome!” exclaimed Fenelon, in the 
days of an older Gallicanism, “O Holy City! O dear and 
common country of all true Christians! There is in Christ 
Jesus nor Greek, nor Scythian, nor Barbarian, nor Jew, nor 
Gentile. All are made one people in thy bosom. All are 
co-citizens of Rome, and every Catholic is Roman.”* 

This was the confession of faith made by Archbishop 
Spalding—simple enough, but sublime because it was made 
in the right hour.* 

“ When the history of the Vatican Council comes to be 
written,” wrote a well-known Englishman, “ not many 
names will be mentioned 'with more honor than that of the 
wise and prudent Archbishop of Baltimore; nor will any 
extra-conciliary document be recorded in future generations 
with deeper satisfaction or warmer gratitude than the letter 
in which Mgr. Spalding vindicated himself and his col¬ 
leagues from all complicity with Gallican doctrines and 
intrigues.” f 

“ Your grace has earned the gratitude of millions,” wrote 
Dr. Marshall, the author of The Christian Missions , “ whom 
your noble letter will console and instruct. Everyone seems 

* Deuxi£me Mandement surla Constitution Unigenitus. 
f The Vatican , p. 258. 

In referring to the letter of Archbishop Spalding to Bishop Dupanloup, 
the Roman correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette made an observation 
which it may be worth while to record here : “The violent pamphlet” (this 
is his language) “ of Mgr. Spalding, Archbishop of Baltimore, in favor of 
Pontifical infallibility, has drawn attention to the fact that the three cham¬ 
pions of the dogma—Dr. Manning, Mgr. Spalding, and Mgr. Dechamps— 
come from the three freest countries of the world— England, North America, 
and Belgium. . . . Nearly all the opponents of the dogma,” he con¬ 

tinues, “are from States which have concluded concordats with the Holy 
See, which recognize the Catholic religion as that of the nation, and either 
directly pay its clergy, as in France, or maintain it, as in Austria, Hungary 
and Germany, in possession of vast estates.” 


412 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding . 


to feel that it is the most formidable blow hitherto inflicted 
upon that deplorable school whose final condemnation 
seems to be at hand. It is a matter for special congratu¬ 
lation that this lesson should have been given by an Ameri¬ 
can prelate. The world imagines that your countrymen 
are too free and independent to accept the light yoke of 
truth, and that, if they are Catholics, it can only be a diluted 
Popery Avhich such men profess. Their chief pastor has 
dispelled effectually this popular delusion. . . . Our 

American brothers will feel a just pride that such a voice 
has gone forth from the see of Baltimore, and that one 
whom they love, with so much reason, has delivered such a 
testimony in the face of Europe and of all Christendom. 
Your letter, my dear Lord Archbishop, will go to the ends 
of the earth, and it will always remain one of the conspic¬ 
uous facts in the history of the Vatican Council, that the 
American Church was so nobly represented in it by one who 
is already in fact, and who will soon, I hope, be in title and 
honor, its Primate.” 

As Archbishop Spalding felt that special ties of gratitude 
should bind us to the Holy See, he also perfectly understood 
that the highest interests of the church in this great Re¬ 
public, even more than elsewhere, demanded that this union 
of love should be cherished and in every possible way 
strengthened. 

The whole edifice of the church, indeed, is knit together 
under the headship of Peter, cemented into imperishable 
durability on the divinely-adjusted rock, which crumbles not 
at the touch of all-destroying time, moves not in the uni¬ 
versal upheaval of human things, but, like the foundations 
of the everlasting hills, remains for ever. What in ages past 
has held the church together, prevented it from being 
broken up into national, sectarian, fragmentary parts, with¬ 
out unity of doctrine or bond of communion, a prey to all 


Definition of Papal Infallibility. 413 

the vicissitudes to which human affairs are subject ? The 
see of Peter, the centre of unity, the bond of charity, the 
keystone to the arch that spans the earth and reaches to 
heaven, like the rainbow, a perpetual symbol of God’s ever- 
enduring love and truth. Now, this traditional and con¬ 
servative authority of the Holy See is, such at least was 
the opinion of Archbishop Spalding, even more necessary 
for us than for any other portion of the Church Catholic. In 
our active and restless society, everything is in a state of 
chronic transition. Manners, customs, and opinions change 
with the same rapidity with which we cause splendid palaces 
and vast centres of commerce to spring up from the bosom 
of the miasmatic swamp or through the dense foliage of the 
primeval forest. We have no landmarks of the olden time, 
no ancient moorings, no anchor sunk in the strata of by¬ 
gone ages. Religious opinion here outside the church, 
more universally than in Europe, is fast resolving itself into 
deism, atheism, pantheism—into that philosophy, in.a word, 
by whatsoever name you may call it, by which God is made 
an abstraction, and man becomes to himself his own supreme 
law. 

Protestantism with us is certainly adrift on the wide, wide 
sea, driven hither and yon, torn, and rent, and twisted by 
every wind of human opinion. In it there is nor unity, nor 
strength, nor beauty. The crucial age is upon it, and, like 
a circle in the water, it will never cease to enlarge itself, that 
it may take in every phase of human opinion, until it dis¬ 
perse into naught. Catholics, like other men, are more or 
less influenced by the circumstances in which they are 
thrown; and in this irreverent age and country, in which 
we do not sufficiently respect anything, and least of all the 
persons of those clothed with authority, a true and abiding 
devotion to the Vicar of Christ, the centre of unity and the 
pillar of strength, is the only safeguard against the disinte- 


414 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


grating action of the repulsive and centrifugal forces, which 
the license of the times, the spirit of nationality, the differ¬ 
ence of customs and ideas, and the increasing disrespect for 
authority, will bring to bear against the unity of the church 
in this country. In the past, our relations with the Holy 
See have been all that could be desired ; and it was but 
natural that this should have been, since, so long as we were 
a young and infant church, we instinctively felt the need of 
a father’s guiding and protecting hand. But now that we 
have grown stronger and feel less our dependence, it is all 
the more necessary that we should cling, with the tender 
love of a child to its mother, to the centre of our unity, and 
consequently of our strength. 

“ I should regard as the greatest misfortune of my life,” 
wrote Archbishop Spalding, “ to have contributed in any 
way whatever to cause even a single one of my brothers to 
falter in perfect obedience to the authority of the church.” 

These words contain the spirit of his life. He had the 
most unbounded respect for anything, however trivial and 
unimportant in itself, that came from the Holy See; and 
no one could be more careful than he was in carrying out to 
the letter the various regulations sanctioned by the Holy 
Father for the government of the church in this country. 
His zeal in this respect may have seemed to some excessive; 
but he felt that in his position he could do no greater work 
for the church than to give the highest example of perfect 
respect for authority. 

Archbishop Spalding, as I have already stated, was 
appointed by the Holy Father a member of the Com¬ 
mission on Postulata . He was also elected, by a majority 
of the votes of the bishops, a member of the Commission 
on Faith. 

These were among the principal congregations of the 
Council, and in them was prepared much of the most deli- 


Devotion of the American Church. 415 

cate and important matter which was afterwards submitted 
to the bishops. 

During the eight months in which the Vatican Council was 
in session, Archbishop Spalding labored almost incessantly, 
and he bore the fatigues of the trying deliberations of those 
months remarkably well, much better, indeed, than many of 
his brothers who were younger and more vigorous than him¬ 
self. He had the gift of being able to throw his whole soul 
into whatever he undertook to perform; and this power of 
concentrating his energies often sustained him in the midst 
of labors which his naturally feeble health would not have 
otherwise borne. He remained in Rome until after the 
fourth and last General Congregation, which was held on 
the 18th of July, 1870, and in which the final vote on the 
infallibility of the Pope was taken—five hundred and thirty- 
three of the five hundred and thirty-five bishops present vot¬ 
ing in favor of the definition.* 

* The last preliminary vote in the public Congregation, held a few days 
previously, stood: Placet, 451 ; non-Placet, 88 ; Placet with modifications, 
62. Most of the last class voted Placet at the session, while most of the 
non-Placet voters chose to absent themselves, though they were perfectly 
free to vote, as the example of two of their number proved. Comparing the 
total number of voters on this occasion with that of the fathers who origi¬ 
nally belonged to the Council, there is a falling off of two hundred and 
twenty-nine, of whom probably twelve had died, and the remainder, with 
the exception above indicated, had been permitted, for legitimate causes, to 
return to their dioceses. The great majority of these were in favor of the 
definition. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


THE MANNER IN WHICH THE DISCUSSIONS OF THE VATI¬ 
CAN COUNCIL WERE CONDUCTED—THE INFALLIBILITY 
OF THE POPE—LIBERTY AND LIBERALISM—TOUR IN 
SWITZERLAND. 

ISCUSSION,” wrote Archbishop Spalding, “ is 
characteristic of all deliberative assemblies, of 
which the oldest and best models have been 
the councils of the Catholic Church. From 
that of Jerusalem, presided over by Peter, to that of the 
Vatican, presided over by his successor, Pius IX., there has 
always been, first, ‘ much disputing,’ and then later, after 
the matter had been discussed and Peter or his successor 
had pronounced sentence, a great silence and peace.” * 
Immediately after the final vote had been taken, Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding addressed a Pastoral Letter on the Papal 
infallibility to the clergy and laity of the archdiocese of 
Baltimore. The irresponsible correspondents of the press 
had sought, by the reckless perversion of facts, to bring the 
Council into disrepute. They desired to produce the im¬ 
pression that the intellect, the virtue, and the independence 
of spirit in the Council were to be found exclusively among 
those who were opposed to the infallibility of the Pope. 
These far-seeing and heroic men were represented as over¬ 
whelmed by the noisy and tyrannical majority, who were 
described, to use the words of Archbishop Manning, as a 
Dead Sea of superstition, narrowness, shallowness, igno¬ 
rance, prejudice; without theology, philosophy, science, or 



* Pastoral Letter on Infallibility. 



The Infallibility of the Pope . 417 

eloquence; gathered from “old Catholic countries”; big¬ 
oted, tyrannical, deaf to reason ; with a herd of “ Curial 
and Italian prelates ” and mere “ Vicars Apostolic.” 

Freedom of discussion, we were told, there was none; for 
the thrilling eloquence of the minority was drowned by the 
violent ringing of bells and intemperate interruptions; by 
outcries, menacing gestures, and wild clamors round the 
tribune. 

Archbishop Spalding, who was perfectly familiar with the 
laws and customs that govern deliberative assemblies, and 
who was an eye-witness of what he describes, and intimately 
acquainted with even the minutest details. relating to the 
Council, gives the following plain and matter-of-fact state¬ 
ment as to the manner in which its deliberations were 
carried on. 

“Never,” he writes, “has there been a council in which 
there has existed fuller latitude or greater freedom of dis¬ 
cussion, or one in which greater decorum and dignity have 
been observed. Every subject, or Schema , has been thought¬ 
fully examined, in its most minute details, and in all its pos¬ 
sible bearings. The regulations provided for a triple dis¬ 
cussion ; the first in writing, the other two by word of 
mouth. After the distribution of the Schema , the fathers 
were invited to hand in, in writing, within a specified period,, 
their objections or modifications to the appropriate deputa¬ 
tion or committee, which thereupon instituted a searching 
examination, and reported back the result of their delibera¬ 
tions in the shape of a revised and reprinted Schema . Then 
the oral discussion began; first, in general, or on the gene¬ 
ral matter and form of the Schema ; and next, in particular, 
on each chapter, and even on each phrase and word ; the 
speakers at the same time presenting in writing the amend¬ 
ments which they deemed opportune. These amendments 
were printed and distributed among the fathers, who were 




41 'S Life of Archbishop Spalding . 

advised of the day assigned for voting on them. The vote 
taken, such of the amendments as were adopted were 
embodied in the reprinted Schema; and then the fathers 
were called upon to vote, first, on each separate part or 
chapter of the revised text; and, next, on the whole. The 
last vote was most solemn ; it was taken by calling sepa¬ 
rately all the members of the Council, each of whom might 
answer in one of three ways—either by placet , or yea ; by 
non-placet , or nay ; or by placet jaxta modum , or yea with a 
modification. These modifications handed in, in writing, 
were printed and sent back to the deputation for examina¬ 
tion, and, on their report to the Council, the final prepara¬ 
tory vote was taken in the general Congregation, prelimi¬ 
nary to the solemn and conclusive vote in the public 
session. 

“ The great mass of these debates regarded the forms of 
expression rather than the substance of the things them¬ 
selves ; though some of them, especially on the last Consti¬ 
tution —to which we shall soon refer—touched to a greater 
or less extent the substance itself, or at least the opportune¬ 
ness of the definition. Every sentence, every phrase, every 
word, every comma even, was searchingly examined ; and 
with a triple discussion and a triple preparatory vote, even 
humanly speaking, there could scarcely be room for a mis¬ 
take. The judgment of the church on matters of faith and 
morals, when confirmed by the Roman Pontiff—as they 
necessarily must be—being irreversible and infallible, and 
regarding all time as well as all nations, all these precau¬ 
tions are wisely taken as a preliminary to the promised 
presence and assistance of the Holy Ghost, who then puts 
the seal of his infallible truth on the results of human 
research and industry. These are not only not excluded 
by the divine promises, but they are regarded, not, indeed, 
as a cordition of infallibility, but as a moral duty of the 


The Infallibility of the Pope. 


419 


assembled fathers, who are bound to search the Scriptures 
and the traditions of the church before rendering their 
decision.” * 

After paying this tribute to the fairness with which the 
proceedings of the Council were conducted, Archbishop 
Spalding, in a few concise and lucid paragraphs, disengages 
the question of infallibility from the misconceptions with 
which ignorance and prejudice had sought to obscure it, and 
then gives a clear conception of its real scope and nature. 
He shows that the Vatican Council has not set up a new 
doctrine, but has merely proclaimed in the most solemn 
manner a truth that was coeval with the founding of the 
Christian church, which is a divinely established organism 
in which the separation of the head from the body is impos¬ 
sible without the destruction of that work against which, by 
God’s promise, the gates of hell shall never prevail. “ From 
the Catholic stand-point,” he concludes, “we cannot logically 
believe in the infallibility of the church without admitting 
the official infallibility of its visible head, the Roman Pontiff. 

* Friedrich, in his Documenta ad Illustrandum Concilium Vaticanum, anni 
1870, gives the original draughts or Schemata as first submitted to the bishops. 
A comparison between these draughts and the Constitutions as finally adopted 
shows that hardly a sentence has been left standing in the latter as it stood 
in the former. Except in the general titles, “ On Faith” and “On the 
Church,” everything is altered—the arrangement, the titles of the chapters, 
the matter of the chapters—not a little entirely eliminated, not a little 
entirely new introduced. In the First Constitution ,the matter is cut down to 
about one-half its original dimensions—eighteen chapters reduced to four. 
The Second Constitution is reduced to about one-third its original compass— 
four chapters instead of fifteen ; and a great deal of very weighty matter is 
left out altogether; whilst the chapter on the Papal infallibility, not in the 
Schema at all, is inserted, and a series of canons are expunged. This, of 
itself, furnishes most undeniable and palpable proof that the Constitutions are 
the free and deliberate work of the bishops ; and, at the same time, it affords 
a striking instance of the utter untrustworthiness of those who have attacked 
the Council. “ Lie ! lie !” said Voltaire ; “ something will always stick.” 


420 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


And it is not at all to be wondered at that this cardinal 
point of Catholic doctrine should have been defined in the 
Council of the Vatican, as it had been so publicly impugned, 
with so much evil to the church, since the close of the last 
General Council ; particularly as the opposition to it has 
lately been reawakened in a manner so fierce and so deter¬ 
mined. It was surely time to settle finally a question which 
has produced so much excitement, to the great embarrassment 
and disedification of the faithful.” 

To the oft-repeated objection that the definition would 
shock the prejudices of non-Catholics, and retard or prevent 
their conversion to the true faith, Archbishop Spalding 
replied: “ A long acquaintance and a friendly discussion 
with intelligent and candid non-Catholics, running through 
a period of more than a third of a century, has impressed us 
with the conviction that what they admire most in the 
Catholic controvertist is candor, directness, and an openness 
which leaves no suspicion that anything is left in the back¬ 
ground or meant to be concealed. They admire a man who 
feels strong enough to accept the whole position, and who is 
bold enough to meet every issue and to decline no responsi¬ 
bility. The first things which strike a cultivated non-Catho- 
lic, when his attention is called to the Catholic Church, are 
its world-wide grandeur of extension, its superhuman and 
marvellous unity of faith, and its tenacious consistency in so 
steadily adhering to principle amid weal and woe; and 
above all, its wonderful antiquity, indicated so strikingly in 
its long line of Pontiffs, reaching back through the wreck of 
kingdoms and the vicissitudes of human affairs to the time 
when Peter and Paul first came, poor strangers, to the Eter¬ 
nal City, to set up the standard of the cross in the magnifi¬ 
cent metropolis and mistress of the world. The range of 
human history can present no parallel to this line of vene¬ 
rable Pontiffs, through whose energetic exertions and untir- 


The Infallibility of the Pope. 421 

ing zeal, apostles were ordained and successively sent out to 
convert the nations, and to knit them, as fast as converted, to 
the great Roman centre of unity; so that, in the course of a 
few centuries, the world became Christian even far beyond 
the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Thus was accom¬ 
plished the promise of Christ, the divine Shepherd of the 
flock, through the agency of his delegated chief shepherd : 

1 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ; them 
also must I call, and there shall be one sheepfold under the 
one shepherdl 

“ The chief agents, under Christ, of this marvellous trans¬ 
formation were manifestly the Roman Pontiffs ; and to them, 
whenever it is a question of the church, all eyes are spon¬ 
taneously directed. Now, in discussing with Protestants, we 
take this high stand-point as our beginning, and from it we 
easily survey the whole field, and point out all its bearings, 
with the official infallibility of the Pontiffs established, and 
along with it the necessary adherence of the body to the 
head ; we explain at once the secret of that wonderful unity 
and tenacity of faith which so puzzles the unbeliever in 
supernatural interposition and guidance. The fidelity of 
Christ in fulfilling his promise, that the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against his church, built upon Peter as a rock, 
and that his faith shall not fail, that he may safely and 
securely confirm his brethren, makes clear what else would 
be well-nigh, if not wholly, inexplicable. . . . 

“ While professing their belief in the divine mission of 
the apostles and in the inspiration of the New Testament, 
evangelical Protestants admit the infallibility of Peter and 
of the other apostles, at least of such of them as were in¬ 
spired writers. Why was this gift of infallibility conferred 
on them ? Plainly that the whole body of Christians, who 
would be instructed by their writings, might not be neces¬ 
sarily led into error. It was for the security and common 


422 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


good of Christendom that this extraordinary gift was 
divinely bestowed. The infallibility of the other apostles 
did not descend to their successors, the individual bishops, 
because these were to have charge of only particular and 
local churches; and their error would thus not affect or 
mislead the whole body, and might, moreover, be readily 
remedied by the ordinary powers left by Christ with his 
divinely constituted church. The case was widely different 
with Peter and his successors, whose jurisdiction was to 
remain world-wide, and whose error—if official error there 
could be—would necessarily taint and ruin the entire body 
of the church. For from the very beginning of the church, 
from and before the days of Irenseus, in the second cen¬ 
tury, it was a generally received axiom and rule of conduct 
that ‘ all other churches—that is, the faithful who are every¬ 
where —must of necessity agree with the Roman Chur chi ” 
Archbishop Spalding next turns to the objection that the 
definition of the infallibility of the Pope will prove hurtful 
to the cause of civil liberty ; and, after referring to the foun¬ 
dation of all liberty, the liberty of the soul—“ if, therefore, 
the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed ”—he 
continues: “ The second kind of liberty, and the highest 
possible type of it in civil governments, is that in which, 
whatever be the form of government, the rights of all citi¬ 
zens are respected and protected alike; in which, if it be a 
republic, the majority rules while respecting the rights of the 
minority; in which the taxes are equitably-levied upon all 
citizens in proportion to their ability or means, and do not 
exceed what is necessary for carrying on the government; 
above all, in which the property and the rights and laws of 
the church are respected and left inviolate, and in which all 
citizens, ecclesiastics included, are equally protected by the 
law, not only as written, but as executed ; in which, in a 
word, without discrimination, especially as between the rich 


The Infallibility of the Pope . 


423 


and the poor, all are equally protected in their legitimate 
rights, all are equal before the law, and all are equally gov¬ 
erned and equally benefited by the law. This theory of 
liberty was, in substance, laid down by the Catholic school¬ 
men of the middle ages ; but it has seldom, if ever, been 
fully realized in this imperfect world.” 

1 o this view of liberty, which has been developed and given 
to the world by the Catholic Church, the infallible Pope can 
never be opposed. “ Governments,” continues Archbishop 
Spalding, “ like garments, must fit or suit the people for 
whom they are formed. Some may need a monarchy, others 
may prefer a republic. The church leaves all this to regu¬ 
late itself, according to the choice of the people or the cir¬ 
cumstances of time and place, confining herself to teaching 
both sovereigns and people their respective dutie^ as laid 
down by the law of Christ. She teaches boldly and fear¬ 
lessly, though she may sometimes be able only to cry out 
in the wilderness to t/hose who will not heed her voice. 

“ It is well known that the great reigning Sovereign Pontiff, 
first of all sovereigns in modern times, inaugurated a system 
of free government, even to the extent of establishing a 
deliberative assembly, in which the delegates of the people 
might fully and freely express their sentiments on matters 
which concerned their civil well-being. It is also, alas! but 
too well known how the enlightened benevolence of our 
great and good Pius IX. was thwarted by the wicked and 
repaid with ingratitude by those very men whom he had 
amnestied and loaded with favors! His Prime Minister 
basely assassinated, at mid-day, on the very steps of the 
Chambers; his private secretary, the lamented Palma, shot 
down at his side by a cowardly assassin ; himself imprisoned 
in his palace by a furious and blood-thirsty mob, and finally 
forced to fly from his capital, and become an exile and a 
wanderer on the earth.” 



424 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


But when we cease to speak of liberty, and come 
to liberalism , he shows that the question assumes a 
wholly new aspect. Between Liberalism and Catholic¬ 
ism there is a necessary conflict, because Liberalism 
affirms that there is no absolute and immutable truth, 
whereas the church makes this principle the very corner¬ 
stone of all knowledge and of all justice. Liberalism is 
want of principle. It respects Rome because she has pre¬ 
served the temples and statues of paganism, and scorns her 
because she has built asylums for purity and obedience ; for 
the murderer and the assassin it has only words of tenderness, 
and would fain change their prisons into palaces; but upon 
the monk who obeys and is pure it pours out the wrath of 
diabolic hatred ; it builds temples to Venus, where the flesh 
is adored ; and it drives the Catholic virgin from the home 
which her own heart chose. It calls itself the friend of the 
people, and it seeks to tear from their hearts their only 
hope—that of a better life; the protector of the poor, and 
it shuts them up in gloomy prisons, where a cold and venal 
hand deals out to them wherewith to fill the stomach, but 
where no word of love is spoken to make them feel that 
they are men—are loved. It proclaims the inviolability of 
the human conscience, and around the bed of the dying man 
it places fiends in human shape to force him to die as he 
has lived—God’s enemy and his own. It desires not the 
homage of blind faith, and in midnight lodges it extorts 
from its victims an oath to believe and act according to 
principles of the real nature and tendency of which they are 
to be kept in ignorance. It in turn befriends and betrays all 
governments, and loves none. It sits on the throne with 
Caesar; it strengthens the hands of absolutism in the per¬ 
son of a heartless and crafty minister; and it leads the 
rabble under the banner of the Commune. It betrays every 
cause it advocates, and is as incapable of honest dealing as 



Liberty and Liberalism . 


425 


of disinterested love. To the church it holds out a seeming 
hand of friendship, whilst with the other it filches the alms 
of the poor. It palters in a double sense, and breaks the 
promise to the hope, whilst keeping it to the ear. 

A deep and true instinct caused the French Revolution to 
give to what it meant by liberty the form of a prostitute ; for 
Liberalism, which, intellectually, is want of principle, is, mor¬ 
ally, the worship of lust; and the symbol of lust is woman, 
venal, degraded, stripped of modesty and purity, which 
alone make her free and beautiful. Liberalism is the most 
hollow and sounding sham of this age. Between the church 
and it there can be no reconciliation, as there can be none 
between God and Satan. With liberty the church needs not 
to be reconciled—she is never greater than when free with 
the free; but could she shake hands with the polluted idol 
of libertinism, she would not be the spouse of Christ. Not 
among the least of the benefits conferred upon the world by 
the Vatican Council, is this, that henceforth there can be no 
more liberal Catholics—Catholics who in any way sympa¬ 
thize with Liberalism, or who hold that reconciliation 
between it and the church is possible. 

The sessions of the Council of the Vatican were sus¬ 
pended after the vote which was taken on the 18th of 
July; and Archbishop Spalding immediately left Rome to 
escape the oppressive heat, and went to breathe the moun¬ 
tain air of Savoy and Switzerland, until, as was then 
thought, the Council would reassemble in the fall. He 
visited the tomb of St. Francis de Sales at Annecy, and 
many other scenes of the labors of this great apostle, who 
was his ideal of a Catholic bishop. He gave a brief account 
of this pilgrimage in the following letter, written from 
Geneva to Mother Frances Gardiner, Superior of the Sis¬ 
ters of Charity of Nazareth: 


426 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


“ My Dear Mother : 

“ I have thought that I could not better spend my vaca¬ 
tion, during the suspension of the Council, than in making a 
pilgrimage to all the places rendered sacred by the lives and 
deaths of two of your patrons—St. Francis de Sales and St. 
Jane de Chantal. I have just returned from this consoling 
visit, and enclose to you relics of both saints, which you may 
divide among your friends, keeping the best part for your¬ 
self. 

“ I visited Annecy, where I said Mass at the shrines 
where the bodies of the two saints repose in splendid cas¬ 
kets behind the respective altars. I went to Thorens, 
where St. Francis was born, baptized, and consecrated 
bishop; and also to Thonon, where he began his apostolic 
labors, where his life was so often exposed to the attempts 
of hired assassins, and where he prepared the way for the 
conversion of seventy-two thousand Calvinists. I was every¬ 
where received with open arms by the Bishop and clergy, 
and was greatly edified by the piety of the people, who still 
remember and revere St. Francis as their father in God. 
How much better to be a saint, and have one’s memory kept 
always fresh, than to be a sinner and be forgotten ! 

“ With the aid of your continued prayers, I hope to be 
much better after this pilgrimage. I am sure St. Francis 
and his friend will pray for me.” 

In Geneva, Archbishop Spalding spent several days. 

“ Geneva,” he wrote, “ is the Protestant Rome no longer, 
simply because it has ceased to be Protestant in any proper 
sense of the term. Nearly one-half of the city, and consid¬ 
erably more than half of the canton, are now Catholic, while 
nine-tenths of the remaining portion have gone off into the 
ranks of Unitarianism and rationalism, the latter verging on 
downright infidelity. The name of John Calvin is now sel- 


Tour iji Switzerland. 


427 


dom heard, and his last resting-place is utterly unknown ; 
and the same may be said of his predecessors and co-workers 
in iniquity under the mask of religion—Viret, Farel, and 
others. Their memory is wholly gone, their very names 
have well-nigh perished. The principal and real non-Cath- 
olic patron saints of Geneva are Jean Jacques Rousseau, a 
native of the city, who has a statue erected to him on an 
island of the Rhone, in a position prominent and central, and 
Voltaire, a foreigner, the philosopher of Fernaix, in the 
immediate vicinity; while the secondary patrons may be 
said to be two other infidel foreigners, Gibbon and Byron.’’ 

“ In Geneva,” he adds, “ the Protestant churches are 
usually called temples —a not unsuitable designation for 
houses of worship dedicated'to what may be called, without 
any exaggeration or breach of charity, a system of vague 
and bald Christianity, dashed with a revived paganism. 
Plato, Socrates, and Epictetus might well preach in these 
temples , if they could only school themselves—which they 
might readily do—to speak respectfully of Christ as a great 
reformer and philosopher.” 

Of St. Peter’s Cathedral, in Geneva, which, like nearly all 
the magnificent churches of the world, was built by Catho¬ 
lics, he wrote : 

“ Stripped of its altars, its paintings and statuary, it 
appeared to us a grand picture of desolation, a temple 
instead of a church, a shell without a kernel, a body with¬ 
out a soul! How our heart sank within us at the sad spec¬ 
tacle of desecration, especially when, in reply to our implied 
question, while we pointed to the empty and desolate sanc¬ 
tuary, and said, 4 There once stood the high altar,’ the 
elderly female sexton said, with a lurid smile worthy of 
John Calvin, 4 We Protestants have no altar’! Cold walls 
and empty benches—that was all. And here, within these 
hallowed walls, which once resounded with the Gloria in 



428 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


Excelsis and the Psalms of David, are now heard but lifeless 
canticles and sermons filled with the platitudes of Socinian- 
ism and rationalism! God and Christ has been driven from 
his own holy sanctuary, and man, with his pigmy but grandi¬ 
loquent humanitarianism, has been enthroned in his place! 
And this thing has been called reformation ! 

“ From the church of John Calvin we went to his house, 
and here our spirits were suddenly refreshed. What a 
change, and how unexpected ! The Sisters of Charity, with 
their angelic ministrations, now occupy the ample residence 
where the once great apostle of uncharity had his abode, 
and where he planned his heartless system. Hundreds of 
Catholic children fill the religious schools taught by them, 
and receive in the very salons of Calvin the elements of a 
sound Catholic education!” 

In connection with his tour through Switzerland, Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding refers to the oft-repeated assertion that the 
Protestant are far superior to the Catholic cantons in cul¬ 
ture, productiveness, and general prosperity. Were the 
assertion founded in fact, he asks, what would follow ? 
Christ certainly did not establish his religion to enable men 
to lay up more easily and abundantly treasures on earth. 
They who seek only this world may succeed better than 
others in finding what they seek, but a divine voice has 
declared that “ they have received their reward.” “ We 
believe,” he continues, “ that whatever difference exists 
between the Catholic and Protestant cantons, in point of 
culture and progress, may be fairly traced to other causes 
than difference of religion. In general, it may be said that, 
at the time of the so-called Reformation and thereafter, the 
Protestants took possession of the plains, which constituted 
the most fertile portion of Switzerland, leaving to the Cath¬ 
olics the mountainous, and therefore least productive, por¬ 
tions ; or, to speak more accurately, that the inhabitants of 


Tour in Switzerland. 


429 

the plains, being already more wealthy, and probably more 
worldly-minded and corrupt, became Protestants; while 
those of the mountains, for a contrary reason, remained 
steadfastly attached to the faith of their fathers. We 
believe the impartial tourist will come to the conclusion 
that, other things being equal, there is very little, if any, dif¬ 
ference between the general appearance and cultivation of 
the two classes of cantons. We ourselves passed through 
eleven out of the twenty-two cantons, and we could remark 
no striking difference of the kind referred to.” 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


THE SACRILEGIOUS INVASION OF ROME—ARCHBISHOP 
SPALDING RETURNS HOME—HIS RECEPTION IN BALTI¬ 
MORE AND WASHINGTON CITY"—A RETROSPECT. 

HE sessions of the Council of the Vatican had 
hardly been suspended, when events occurred 
in Europe which seemed to betoken that the 
fathers would not be able to reassemble again 
in the fall. The war which had broken out between France 
and Prussia had led to the withdrawal of the French troops 
from Rome, and it was easy to foresee that the Italian 
Government would not long hesitate to crown its many 
infamies by taking possession of the Holy City. Of the 
consummation of this sacrilegious crime, Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding received the news whilst in Switzerland. “ Finding 
our position at Albano insecure,” wrote Dr. Chatard, the 
Rector of the American College, immediately after the 
capture of the city, “ from the approach of the invading 
troops and consequent troubles, I brought all the commu¬ 
nity to Rome on the evening of the 12th and morning of 
the 13th of September. The next morning, the gates were 
closed; and on the 14th occurred the first skirmish at 
Monte Mario between the lancers and the zouaves and 
dragoons. The next three days saw the Italian forces 
arrive in great numbers. The interference of Baron von 
Arnim delayed the attack to the morning of the 20th, 
although there was little more than words in the whole 
matter of intervention. At five o’clock on the morning of 
that day, we were awakened by fearful cannonading. The 





The Sacrilegious Invasion of Rome . 431 

points first assailed were the Porta Pinciana, the Porta 
Salara, the Villa Macao, and the Porta San Lorenzo. 
After three hours and a few minutbs of incessant firing, 
the attack on the Porta Pancrazio was made, and bombs 
began to fall in the city. Whether it was that our flag, 
which I had placed on the highest point of the college, 
protected us in part, or our central position placed us 
beyond range, we were not struck at all, nor, as far as I 
know, did any shot strike near us. . . . The firing 

lasted until half-past ten o’clock, when a white flag was 
run up at the cross of St. Peter’s, at Castel Angelo, and at 
St. Mary Major’s. It seems the Italian troops endeavored 
to enter the city before the result of the parley was made 
known. The zouaves fired on them, and this exasperated 
the enemy. The fighting ceased, however, and the troops 
poured into the city. . . . We have passed through 

three days of terror, we may say. The populace have had 
things pretty much their own way. Papal soldiers have 
been beaten and killed in the streets. Ecclesiastics were 
not safe; many have been insulted and threatened with 
personal violence. To do the Italian troops justice, they 
took no part in this, but uniformly kept order and de¬ 
fended those who were molested. The returned emigrati 
and the element introduced into Rome before the siege, 
together with the dregs of the people and the Jews, are 
those to whose door this violence is laid.” 

These events made it evident that the Council could not 
continue its labors in Rome. Archbishop Spalding did not, 
however, at once abandon the hope of seeing the fathers 
reassemble in the fall. He thought that some city of Bel¬ 
gium might be chosen in which to resume the work, and 
in this view he was supported by several leading bishops 
of the Council. But the state of Europe was so unsettled, 
and the French and German bishops were surrounded by 


43 2 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


so many difficulties, that this project was not taken into 
serious consideration. Not wishing to return home without 
positive instructions from the Pope, Archbishop Spalding, 
as soon as he had heard of the capture of the city by the 
Italian Government, wrote to Rome to ask what he should 
do; and, in reply, received the following letter from Cardi¬ 
nal Bilio, one of the Presidents of the Council: 

“ In answer to your esteemed letter of the 29th of Sep¬ 
tember, I have the honor to inform you that the Holy 
Father, to whom I carried it this morning, not only per¬ 
mits, but desires, that you return to Baltimore; since, owing 
to the sad state to which we are reduced, the Council is sus¬ 
pended de facto , and soon will be dc jure. The Holy Father, 
though greatly afflicted, is in good health, and sends you 
his most especial blessing, both for yourself and your dio¬ 
cese, whither the esteem and love of all who have had the 
honor to know you, among whom I hold myself to be one 
of the first, will accompany you.” 

Upon the reception of this letter, Archbishop Spalding at 
once prepared to return home, and towards the close of 
October he sailed on the City of Paris from Liverpool to 
New York, where he arrived early in November. In Balti¬ 
more, fifty thousand people assembled to welcome him 
home. This imposing demonstration of popular reverence 
was not less an evidence of the love and veneration in which 
Archbishop Spalding was held by the Catholics of Maryland, 
than a proof of their filial devotion to the church and hei 
infallible Head on earth; and it is thus of historical impor¬ 
tance as an example of the unfeigned delight with which 
the Catholics of the United States received the definition 
of the Papal infallibility. His arrival was announced by the 
booming of cannon, and the bells of all the Catholic churches 
of the city rang out the welcome tidings. The Catholic 
societies, with floating banners and gay badges, formed in 


A rchbishop Spalding Returns Home . 433 

iine, and passed before the open carriage in which the Arch¬ 
bishop sat. The streets along which the procession passed 
were decked with flags, and from the windows beaming faces 
and the waving of handkerchiefs betokened the heartfelt joy 
that welcomed home one beloved and dear. The sidewalks 
were thronged, and the streets around the cathedral were 
filled with crowds patiently awaiting the arrival of the pro¬ 
cession. In the address of welcome, Judge Mason, after 
giving expression to the gratitude which all felt for the safe 
return of the Archbishop, and to the pride with which his 
course in the Council had filled the Catholics of Maryland, 
turned to what was the more immediate sentiment of the 
occasion: 

“ We have not come together,” he said, “ to welcome 
home the great champion of truth, who has left the impress, 
of his vigorous mind upon one of the most important, as it 
will be one of the most enduring, pages in the world’s his¬ 
tory; but we have assembled in the spirit of that simple 
love which prompts little children to meet and welcome 
with outstretched arms a father whose long absence made 
their home cheerless and desolate, and whose return brings, 
joy and gladness. We come to receive a father’s blessing 
to conduct you, dear Archbishop, once more to your old, 
familiar seat in the midst of a devoted household ; and 
again to resume those tender and affectionate relations, 
which, even more than the honor and dignity which 
attach to your character as Prelate, have endeared us to 

} y 

you. 

The address in the name of the clergy was delivered by 
the venerable Father Coskery. 

“Most reverend and beloved father,” he said, “your 
children, of both the clergy and laity, hail with delight the 
return of their Archbishop, of whom, assuredly, we have rea¬ 
son to be proud, if ever a devotedly attached flock had rea- 


434 


Life of Archbishop Spalding, 


son to be proud of their chief pastor. The testimony of the 
Catholic world ‘ bcareth witness’ to our own, and convinces 
us that we speak not merely the language of filial love and 
pride, but also that of truth, which will be historic, when we 
assert that amid the illustrious lights which shone so con¬ 
spicuously in the great Vatican Council, few have done more 
than our own Archbishop, in the fulfilment of the episcopal 
office, to enlighten in the things of God ‘ every man that 
cometh into the world.’ ” 

To these addresses Archbishop Spalding replied, in his 
simple way: 

“ Dearly Beloved : 

“I thank you all for this kindly greeting; I have loved 
you all very much, but now, after this testimonial of your 
affection, I must love you more than ever.” 

In Washington City, he was received with scarcely less 
enthusiasm than in Baltimore. Here, again, he was met by 
the clergy and the Catholic societies, who conducted him in 
solemn procession through the streets of the national capi¬ 
tal, thronged by thousands, who extended to him a cordial 
welcome home. 

The demonstration was not unlike that which is witnessed 
on Inauguration Day, except that there was no military 
parade. These popular gatherings did not have as their end 
the mere idle ceremony of pomp and display. They were a 
public profession of faith, and an evidence of the hearty 
readiness with which the children of the church in this coun¬ 
try obey the voice of their mother. They also furnished an 
opportunity of entering a formal protest against the sacri¬ 
legious crime which the Italian Government had just consum¬ 
mated. This, in fact, was done at the reception of the 
Archbishop both in Baltimore and in Washington City. 



Temporal Power of the Pope. 


435 


The thousands who had assembled to welcome him home 
organized themselves into a mass meeting, and passed reso¬ 
lutions, of which the following was the preamble: “ We, 

the Catholics of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, in general 
meeting assembled, to the number of more than fifty thou¬ 
sand, in order to welcome the return from Rome of our 
beloved Archbishop, wish to avail ourselves of this impres¬ 
sive occasion to give expression, in the face of all Christen¬ 
dom, to our earnest, solemn, and unanimous protest against 
the late invasion of the Roman States by the Florentine 
Government.” They then give as their reasons for making 
this protest that this invasion had been made in violation 
of solemn treaties, by which the independence of the Sov¬ 
ereign Pontiff in the government of the small territory that 
he still possessed was secured; that Rome belonged, not to 
Italy, but to Christendom—to the two hundred millions of 
Christians scattered over the world, who had given their 
money to build it up and enrich it with splendid monuments 
of religion ; that the Papal territory stood in the same rela¬ 
tion to the united states of Christendom that the District 
of Columbia bears to the United States of America ; and as 
no State of the Union could have the right to take posses¬ 
sion of the District of Columbia, so no nation can have the 
right to take possession of the Papal territory. 

They also affirm that since Rome is not only the sanctu¬ 
ary of religion, but the capital of literature and art as 
well, it is greatly to be feared lest its precious treasures 
should be scattered or destroyed by the ruthless invader. 

At the mass meeting in Washington City, similar resolu¬ 
tions were drawn up and unanimously adopted. 

In a letter addressed to Archbishop Spalding at this time, 
through the columns of the press, by the Bishop of Wheel¬ 
ing, that Right Reverend Prelate said: 

“ I wish to express in the most public manner my gratifi- 


436 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

cation at the grand ovation given you recently in the capital 
of the United States. It was a most flattering demonstra¬ 
tion of filial regard to your person by the Catholics of your 
diocese ; but it has acquired an interest for the population 
of our entire country, as being made the occasion of sending 
forth a protest from that capital against the action of the rob¬ 
ber government of Italy for daring to seize upon the patri¬ 
mony of the Holy See.” 

Archbishop Spalding, a few weeks after his return, deliv¬ 
ered a lecture in Philadelphia on the temporal power of the 
Pope, in which, after reviewing its origin and early history, 
he pointed out its intimate relations with his spiritual 
sovereignty. The church, being Catholic and not national, 
must have an unnational head. Place the Pope in France, 
and he will become a French Pope; place him in Spain, and 
he will become a Spanish Pope; make him the subject 
of Victor Emanuel, and he will become an Italian Pope. 
The interests of the church require that the Pope, whatever 
his nationality may be, shall be of no nation. 

Since two hundred million Catholics yield to him the 
highest obedience as to the immediate representative of 
Christ, they have, beyond question, the right to demand 
that not even the shadow of suspicion shall be thrown upon 
his perfect freedom of action. They cannot have this assu¬ 
rance whilst he is the subject of any government whatever. 
His spiritual power, the greatest on earth, renders it impos¬ 
sible that he should be a subject with impunity. 

“ The Pope is outside of Paris,” said the great Napoleon, 
who, when his reason was undisturbed by some dream of 
mad ambition, was as far-seeing as it is given to man to 
be ,—“ the Pope is outside of Paris, and it is well; he is not 
either at Madrid or Vienna, and it is for this reason that we 
support his spiritual authority. At Madrid, at Vienna, they 
would be warranted in saying the same. Do you believe 


Temporal Power of the Pope. 437 

that, if he were at Paris, the Austrians, the Spaniards, 
would consent to receive his decisions ? We are, therefore, 
but too happy that he resides far away from us, and that, 
at the same time, he does not live with our rivals, but dwells 
in freedom in time-consecrated Rome, far from the control 
of the German Emperor, from that of the kings of France 
and Spain ; holding the balance among Catholic sovereigns, 
leaning a little to the strongest, but at once assuming an 
erect posture when the strongest seeks to become unjust or 
oppressive. The ages have done this, and they have done 
well. For the government of souls, it is the best, the most 
beneficent institution that can be imagined.” 

Were it possible that the Pope should be the subject and 
at the same time the friend of any earthly government, 
this state of things would be precisely the most dangerous 
of all to the peace and unity of the church. Whilst he is 
persecuted, whilst he is a prisoner, Catholics can suffer with 
him and be patient ; but to see him a subject, humbly kiss¬ 
ing the hand of some sensuous and lust-besotted Italian 
king, meekly receiving from the polluted mouths of igno¬ 
rant ministers suggestions as to how Christ’s world-wide 
church should be administered, is what God will never per¬ 
mit ; and they who think that the church will grow accus¬ 
tomed to the state of things which now exists in Rome 
little know the temper of her divine mind. If she were 
like the world, she would doubtless bow down before accom¬ 
plished facts, and applaud whatever is ; but, fortunately for 
the dignity of human nature, there is still left on earth at 
least one institution in whose eyes success cannot consecrate 
crime. So long as the Italian Government remains in 
Rome, so long will it be the enemy of all Catholics, the 
hated robber of the only temporal good which they possess 
in common ; and with the divine patience which drove the 
Caesar of a former paganism from the Eternal City will they 


438 


Life of Archbishop Spalding . 


work and wait till this modern toadstool growth shall rot 
from off the soil it infects. When the savage triumph of 
German pride, the brutal delirium of the Paris Commune, 
and the cowardly theft of the Italian Government will be 
remembered only as warnings of God’s wrath, the infallible 
Pope will still be King of Rome. 

“ Have not, then,” asks Archbishop Spalding in this lec¬ 
ture, “ the Roman people, like the other peoples of the 
world, the right to change their temporal rulers? To this I 
answer,” he replies, “first, that the late change was made, 
not by the Roman people or on their demand, but by a 
foreign power and by overwhelming force of arms. The 
Romans were simply forced by the bayonet to accept one 
ruler for another; and the plebiscite , or popular vote, which 
followed was manifestly a farce and a sham, enacted under 
the influence of their new masters, at the head of their vic¬ 
torious battalions. Every observer of recent events in 
France and Italy is well aware of the manner in which 
these plebiscites ; have been managed. They deceive nolone 
except those who wish to be deceived. In Rome, espe¬ 
cially, everything was done under the open terror of the 
bayonet. Hence, the voting was naturally almost entirely 
on one side. Vast numbers of camp-followers and of men 
from other parts of Italy, the very scum of the cities, who 
clearly had no right of suffrage—even boys under age— 
were allowed to vote ; whilst many of the Romans were 
induced to do so through a terrorism which they had not 
the courage to resist. Finally, the counting of the votes 
was altogether in the hands of the interested military 
leaders, and no reliance whatever could be placed on its 
accuracy. In these United States, we know something of 
the machinery requisite for obtaining a successful vote; but 
we are only infants in a science in which the Italian and 
European Liberals are so thoroughly proficient. I answer, 


Temporal Power of the Pope. 


439 


secondly, that even if they desired to do so—which they 
did not—the Roman people have no more right to vote 
away a territory which clearly belongs to the whole Catholic 
Church—to the united states of Christendom, as the con¬ 
secrated residence of its chief—than have the people of the 
District of Columbia to vote away to one or more of the 
States a Territory belonging to the whole United States, as 
the seat of their General Government. In both cases, the 
soil is necessarily neutral ground and the common property 
of all; and it cannot be alienated without common consent. 
Suppose the barbarous inhabitants on the borders of the 
Isthmus of Suez, or those along the Panama Railway, 
should attempt to vote away that great international canal 
or railway, or should assume to themselves the right to 
administer its commerce for their own advantage, would 
England, would France, -would the United States, would 
any nation in Christendom submit to such an outrage ? 
Private convenience and local claims must yield to the 
public good and to vested rights.” 

Shortly after his return from the Vatican Council, Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding dedicated two new churches in Baltimore, 
and one in the immediate vicinity. He also made ar¬ 
rangements to have three other churches built in the 
city, one of which was intended for the Bohemian Ca¬ 
tholics, whilst another was to be commemorative of the 
Jubilee of Pius IX., in honor of his twenty-five years of 
Pontificate. He built within this year two new parochial 
schools for the cathedral parish. He was anxious to give 
a thorough organization to the parochial school system of 
the city, by which all the Catholic elementary schools 
should be placed under the supervision of a board of direc¬ 
tors. He had not, however, matured this plan, which was 
one of the chief subjects of his thoughts, when his last sick¬ 
ness warned him that his work was done. He began again 


440 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


the visitation of his diocese, and, during the spring and 
summer of 1871, he gave confirmation in Baltimore, Wash¬ 
ington City, and various other places. The proportion of 
converts confirmed was about thirteen per cent. He con¬ 
tinued to preach frequently, and occasionally he lectured for 
some charitable object. His last lecture was delivered for 
the benefit of the negro Catholics of Baltimore. As the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of the elevation of Pius IX. to the 
chair of Peter drew near, Archbishop Spalding issued a cir¬ 
cular to the Catholics of the archdiocese, inviting them to 
commemorate the event with appropriate observance. 

The celebration, both in Baltimore and Washington City, 
surpassed his fondest hopes. On Sunday, June 17, there 
was a general communion in all the churches for the Holy 
Father, and Monday, the 18th, the celebration took place. 

“We have had,” the Archbishop wrote a few days later, 
“ the grandest possible celebration here in honor of the 
Jubilee. Nothing like*it has ever been seen in Baltimore or 
in the United States. Indeed, I have never seen such enthu¬ 
siasm. Rich and poor alike illuminated their houses, and 
the Catholic churches and institutions flamed with light. 
Over a hundred thousand people were in the streets to view 
the procession, which was two hours in passing a given 
point.” 

Archbishop Spalding was greatly pleased by this splendid 
proof of the devotion of the Catholics of his diocese to the 
Holy Father ; for, apart from other and more important 
considerations, he had a special love and veneration fqr 
Pius IX. 

The following letter was written in reply to one which had 
been drawn up and sent to the Holy Father in the name of 
the Catholics of the archdiocese of Baltimore, on the occa¬ 
sion of his Pontifical Jubilee: 


Letter of Pius IX. 


441 


“PIUS P.P. IX. 

“Venerable Brother and Beloved Sons! Health 
and Apostolic Benediction : 

“ We have received your very dutiful letter of the 21st of 
June, by which, in the name of your fellow-Catholics, you 
convey to us the expression of your congratulation, and of 
the filial love with which you celebrated our Pontifical Jubi¬ 
lee, by a very large and enthusiastic meeting, and public tes¬ 
timonials of your rejoicing. Though we have already taken 
measures that our feelings of gratitude and benevolence 
towards our children, who have done so much for us, should 
be made known to all in common, yet we desire to give to 
you, by this letter, a special token of our affection for you, 
and to signify to you that your zeal and devotion towards 
us and the Holy See, of which you have given repeated 
proofs, have afforded us great comfort and consolation. But 
especially do we commend your hope and the confidence 
which you place in our Lord, and to which, without doubt, 
his many favors should excite all the faithful. And now, 
venerable brother and beloved sons, whilst we are assured 
that your zeal for religion is boundless, and your prayers for 
us unceasing at this perilous time and in these afflictions 
which beset us, we beseech the divine Majesty that he 
would give you courage to strive in his cause, and bestow 
an abundant reward for the good works which you perform 
in his honor. As a signal mark and pledge of our affection, 
and an earnest of heaven’s favor, we lovingly impart the 
Apostolical benediction to you, venerable brother, who lead 
your flock with sacerdotal zeal; to you, also, beloved sons, 
to your families, to all our dear children of the archdiocese, 
the clergy, and their faithful people. 

“ Given at St. Peter’s, the 2d of August, 1871, the 26th 
year of our Pontificate. PlUS P.P. IX.’’ 


442 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Little remains now for me to do but to tell how Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding, having lived a brief span, breathed out his 
soul to God. But before the shades of night have gathered 
around his life, in the twilight, with its solemn stillness, 
we may pause a moment to ponder over its course and its 
meaning, or to recall its characteristic and cherished features. 

All the currents of his life set to the church, which, for 
him, had the promise of the life that is and of that which 
is to be. He was unable even to conceive of a better state 
of things here on earth than that in which all men, united 
in faith, in hope, in love, would be gentle, true, and chari¬ 
table, in life; brave and trusting, in death. In his eyes, in 
comparison with this soul-life, subject and aspiring to God, 
the hurry, the rush, the eager rivalry, and the weary unrest 
of them that seek pleasure and of them that seek power, were 
not of great moment. If we should fly in the air, if we 
should tunnel the earth, if we should walk on the bottom 
of the ocean as in our native element, if we should convert 
every baser metal into gold, the infinite yearnings of the 
soul would be unsatisfied as now. Hence, he was never 
infected with the idolatry of material progress ; nor did he 
believe that any possible modification or perfection of 
matter could help us to solve the problem of human life. 
Philosophy, too, he thought was insufficient. In the know¬ 
ledge of absolute truth, we have made no progress since 
Plato and St. Augustine. Then, we want something more 
than speculation. You can no more fill the all-devouring 
mind with abstractions than you can 

“ Cloy the hungry edge of appetite, 

By bare imagination of a feast.” 

And as for physical science, cold and pitiless, with the 
hard, unrelenting features of its brazen face, its feet are 
of clay, and they rest on sand. It can, at best, be but a 


A Retrospect . 


443 


phase in human thought, and all the eternal questionings 
of the soul will remain after it as they were before. I 
remember hearing Archbishop Spalding say, a year or two 
before his death, that, as he grew older, he realized more 
fully the truth of his faith, and saw more clearly that, if it 
were not true, nothing was. He believed that the teach¬ 
ings of the church contain the highest lessons of truth and 
wisdom for the human race, now and for all time to come ; 
and, believing this, he labored honestly and faithfully to 
build up the church of God. There was in his life, what 
is found in so few lives of Americans, perfect unity and 
harmony. In the way in which he set his face in early 
youth he walked even to the end; and to this end were 
directed all his labors of mind and body. 

Few men, I think, have had a clearer insight into the 
wants of the church in this country than he. His mind 
was practical, and he attached but little weight to mere 
speculation ; and hence his attention was given almost ex¬ 
clusively to those questions which have an actual bearing 
upon the progress of the church. Catholic education, for 
instance, was, in his opinion, the essential condition of any 
real growth of the church in the United States. In com¬ 
parison with this, he held every other issue of the present 
day to be of minor importance; and though he sought to 
propagate his views, and to prove their correctness in essays, 
lectures, and controversies, the real manner with which he 
dealt with the question was more practical still. Not 
political agitation, not discussion, but honest, Catholic 
work was what was wanted. The bishops and priests, he 
thought, should everywhere, without delay, go to work to 
build up parochial schools; and he sought to urge on this 
movement by legislation in the national and provincial 
councils and in the diocesan synods. And though he looked 
upon primary education as the most important, because it 


444 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding, 


regards the greatest number, he, felt the imperative neces¬ 
sity of raising the standard of the higher education, and 
thought the time had come when we should found a Ca¬ 
tholic university. He was also a most strenuous advocate 
of that practical education which is given to orphan and 
abandoned children in protectories and industrial schools. 
Some one has called him the friend of children, and I think 
no other title could have pleased him so much. 

Archbishop Spalding also thoroughly appreciated the mis¬ 
sion of the press, and the importance of creating a Catholic 
literature, by which we would be enabled to enter into and 
influence the thought of the age; and his own labors in this 
direction have been productive of good results. His views 
on the relations of the church to the state in this country, 
with reference to their bearing upon the duties of ecclesias¬ 
tics, as also his opinions concerning the manner and direc¬ 
tion in which our ecclesiastical polity should be developed, 
were, I cannot but think, both wise and prudent. His great 
desire to promote perfect uniformity of discipline and har¬ 
mony of action, as well as the scrupulous care with which 
he sought to have the enactments of our various councils 
observed, may be adduced also as evidences of his practical 
good sense. “ The best way,” he said, “ to create a more 
perfect system of canon law is to observe faithfully that 
which we already have.” The best laws become useless 
when the idea of the sacredness of law has been destroyed 
by habitual disregard of authority. 

A sufficient proof of the real ability of Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding, as it is the surest test of that of any man, is the fact 
that he was never placed in a position, however high or 
responsible, to which he did not prove himself equal. 

His moral character is above reproach. If he was ever 
guilty of an act over which even his dearest friend should 
wish to throw the mantle of Concealment, I have been unable 


A Retrospect 


445 


to discover it. His character was as transparent as that of 
an innocent child, and, had there been even a breath upon 
its purity, it could not have escaped notice. 

Some thought he was ambitious ; if so, it was a noble 
ambition ; but they who knew him best will admit that he 
was simply zealous and laborious. He was pleased by the 
sympathy and attention of friends ; but this is a pardonable 
weakness, and one which leans to the side of virtue. He 
was without policy and devoid even of tact, except that 
which comes of good sense. His piety was without cant, 
his charity without sentimentalism, and his devotion to the 
church without pretence. He hated shams, and reverenced 
honesty and sincerity even in an enemy. His sympathies, 
like his faith, were Catholic, and he thought every human 
being was his neighbor. He loved the people, without being a 
demagogue ; and his country, without being an office-seeker ; 
and freedom, not for himself alone, but for all men. If he 
did not cultivate individual affections with special care, he 
was all the freer to devote himself to truth, and justice, and 
every high interest of humanity. 

Though he was simple and ingenuous, and, one would 
think, easily imposed upon, he yet possessed an accurate 
knowledge of character, and was seldom mistaken in his 
judgment as to what the men whom he wished to employ 
in the service of the church were able to do. 

He knew .perfectly well the value of money, and was a 
prudent and far-seeing administrator of the finances of the 
church; but he was wholly free from any personal love of 
gain. His hand was always open to the poor; and he died, 
I may say, in poverty. Some one owed him two or three 
thousand dollars, which he would have given away had he 
been able to get hold of it; and he left instructions that 
this money should be used for the benefit of the poor chil¬ 
dren, whom he so loved. 


446 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


He was, I think, very free from prejudice. There was in 
his character nothing of the narrowness and one-sidedness of 
nationalism. He believed that God had made all the peo¬ 
ples of the earth of one blood, and in the Catholic republic 
of souls he acknowledged no distinction of race or color. 
He had no class-prejudices. Plebeian in his origin, simple 
and severe in his tastes, he neither affected contempt for 
high birth, nor sought to ape the manners of the great. 
Though he had been much in Europe, and had there mixed 
with many refined and cultivated people, he remained to the 
end a plain, blunt American citizen. He would have been 
the last man to desire to see the spirit of courtliness intro¬ 
duced into church or state in this country. He did not 
blindly admire either the sacred eld or these modern days; 
but thought that every condition of human society has been, 
is, and must be imperfect: “ Optimus ille est qui minimis 
urgetur .” 

The flippant sciolism of the day, which blasphemes what¬ 
ever it is unable to understand, will say that Archbishop 
Spalding was not free from sectarian prejudice, because he 
believed in the Catholic Church. Prejudice is a leaning to 
one side of a cause for some reason not founded in truth 
and justice; and hence, as the truth is one and error mani¬ 
fold, it is of the nature of prejudice that it should be in¬ 
definitely variable in time and place. Individuals, families, 
nations, races, epochs, have their prejudices, and, of the 
myriad forms of this phenomenon, no two are alike. But 
the Catholic faith has been held, for many centuries, by 
hundreds of millions of men, differing in individual charac¬ 
teristics, in nationality, in race, in every possible accidental 
condition of life. There must be some deeper, universal, 
more persistent cause underlying this historic fact than the 
whim of prejudice. Take another view of the subject. It 
is not every one, as Napoleon said to Bertrand, who can 


A Retrospect. 


447 


afford to be an atheist. The belief in a personal God is the 
most universal and irrepressible fact in the history of the 
human race. The most perfect and exalted idea of God 
which has been given to men has come through Christ; 
hence, if we believe in God, reason demands that we should 
believe in the God of Christianity. But the only logical 
Christianity is Catholicism. In the face of revelation, the 
human reason can take but two attitudes: it must consti¬ 
tute itself either its judge or its disciple. 

The Protestants said : We believe the Scripture ; but each 
man’s reason must decide what its meaning is. 

The Socinians added : Therefore, we must believe only 
what is conformable to reason. 

The-Deists subjoined : Reason, then, of itself, suffices to 
teach us the truth. Hence, revelation is useless and conse¬ 
quently false. 

The Atheists reply: What you tell us of God and the 
soul is contrary to reason; we will therefore accept only 
matter. 

The Sceptics conclude, in closing up the procession: 
Materialism contains more absurdities and contradictions 
than all other systems, and we will therefore doubt every¬ 
thing. Between Catholicism and scepticism there is no 
logical foothold.* 

As Archbishop Spalding was not prepared to be a sceptic, 
he could not think that prejudice made him a Catholic. 

To be a Catholic, as he perfectly well understood, can 
mean only one thing; and he thought that the most pitiful 
of men is one of those namby-pamby nondescripts, who, 
whilst holding to the name of Catholic, seeks to be an 
eclectic. Archbishop Spalding belonged to the class of 
men who are most serviceable to a good cause. He was 

* Bergier, in his introduction to the Traitt de la Vraie Religion, has devel¬ 
oped this argument in the fullest and most forcible manner. 



448 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


honest, unselfish, laborious, hopeful, and conciliating. He 
was good rather than great; his mind was solid rather than 
brilliant; and he was a worker, and not a theorist. His 
instincts were generous, his impulses noble, and all the mo¬ 
tions of his spirit were gentle. He was kind without weak¬ 
ness, firm without obstinacy ; and, having power, he was 
neither haughty nor tyrannical. 

Of his sincere piety and tender devotion no one could 
doubt. All his thoughts and aspirations were colored by 
religion and tended heavenward. In the performance of his 
ecclesiastical functions, his humble, serious bearing indicated 
his reverence of soul; and his whole deportment in the 
house of God was of a kind that cannot be assumed for a 
purpose. In the pulpit, he was grave and earnest, and would 
have thought it “pitiful to court a grin when he should woo 
a soul.” 

And yet he did not believe that, to be pleasing to God, 
we should make ourselves disagreeable to men, or that a 
gloomy brow and long-drawn face were evidences of piet y. 
He knew when to be serious and when to be joyful. In his 
moments of recreation, surrounded by his friends, he could 
be as light of heart and gay of voice as if he had neves had 
a care. He laughed ; he talked ; he indulged in badinage 
and repartee ; he told anecdotes, and told them well; and, 
what is rare, in this he did not overstep the modesty of 
nature. 

He was, in fine, a man who made those who knew him 
well, think better of human nature. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP SPALDING. 

URING the last twenty-five years of his life, 
Archbishop Spalding suffered much from ill 
health. In 1846, he had a severe attack of 
typhoid fever, which left after it a gastric affec¬ 
tion, from which he never entirely recovered ; and to this 
was added chronic bronchitis, which was aggravated by his 
almost incessant labors as a preacher and lecturer. Though 
not in good health, he had great vital power, by which he- 
was enabled to rally from the frequent spells of illness to 
which he was subject. Suffering did not take from him the 
capacity to work. 

He was so often ill, especially in the latter years of his 
life, that he began to look upon sickness as his normal state. 
“ I do not see how I am going to die at all,” he wrote in 
October, 1871, just after recovering from an attack which 
his physicians thought would certainly prove fatal. “ This 
is the fifth time that I have been brought to the very brink 
of the grave by this same kind of gastric affection, and each 
time I have been restored to life by novenas and prayers. 
But as the Scotchman, who, being condemned to be hanged 
by his chief, and availing himself of the privilege of his 
clan, which allowed him to select the tree on which he was 
to be suspended, chose a bush not three feet high, answered, 
when taunted with his stupidity, ‘ I am in no hurry—I can 
wait till it grows/ so I will wait till God calls me.” 

We have already seen how cheerfully, and even gladly, 
he accepted death, when he thought his hour had come, 








<50 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

shortly after his arrival in Rome in 1830. It does not 
appear that it ever occurred to him to think that it was 
hard to die thus in the very blush of youth, in a strange 
land, thousands of miles away from friends and kindred, 
who would not be allowed so much as to look upon his 
grave. 

“I was happy,” he wrote to his father, “and even filled 
with the sweetest joy, when told that my hour had come, 
that the prison of my wretched body was to be broken, and 
that my soul was destined soon to be with its heavenly 
Father for all eternity.” 

The frosts of many winters had whitened his head since 
he wrote this, but the innocent and brave heart was young 
as ever, ready to die, and also willing to live. I do not 
believe there was ever a time, after his elevation to the 
priesthood, when he would not have cheerfully laid down 
the burden of life; and yet he found the most intense 
pleasure in living and working for the church. In fact, he 
never looked upon life gloomily. Of a hopeful, sanguine 
nature, he saw rather the bright side of things, and always 
retained something of that unsuspecting responsiveness 
which peculiarly belongs to those who have never known 
the world. 

His kindly nature went out in grateful return to the 
feeblest call of affection, as the violet opens all its beauty 
to the faintest ray of sunshine. 

He loved his friends, he loved his kindred, he loved his 
work, and, above all, he loved God’s church. Not, then, 
from apathy or weariness was he willing to die; but he 
looked upon death as God’s minister, who may come to us 
at any moment, and whom we should therefore be prepared 
to receive at all times. For at least two years before he 
died, he had the response of death within himself, and fre¬ 
quently spoke as though he were fully persuaded that he 


Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding. 451 

had but a short time to live. “ The machine is worn out, he 
used to say; the doctors have patched it up time and again, 
but they are about at the end of their trade.” It was only 
the machine which was failing ; for his mind and heart were 
vigorous and sound as they had ever been. After his re¬ 
turn from the Vatican Council, when his friends urged him 
to write or lecture, he generally replied that his day had 
passed, and that his work was done. But he nevertheless 
continued to preach, and occasionally to lecture, almost to 
the very time when his last illness came upon him. 

“ A good soldier,” he wrote, “ does not abandon his 
post until regularly relieved ; and the only discharge for a 
soldier of the cross is death.” 

His interest in whatever concerned the welfare of the 
church was as living the day in which he died as it had 
been in the first flush of his youthful zeal. We have seen 
with what joy he received the missionaries of St. Joseph, 
who arrived but a short time before his death, and how 
hopefully he looked forward to the result of their labors 
among the emancipated slaves of the South. The favorite 
projects of his life still occupied his thoughts. 

“ May God bless the good work and you ! ” he wrote to 
Father Hecker, referring to his efforts for the diffusion of 
Catholic books and tracts. “ I need scarcely say how 
cordially I go with you in all this, and how cheerfully I will 
co-operate. 

“ But, alas! our Catholics are not a reading people, and 
they will have to be educated up to the point. They seem 
to feel that all is finished, and that nothing remains to be 
done; that the church being divine, no exertion is needed 
to extend its influence, and to ward off evil and scandal. I 
wish there could be infused into them, not, indeed, the rest¬ 
less and feverish activity of Protestants, 4 always learning, 
and never arriving at the knowledge of the truth,’ but some- 


452 


Life of A rchbishop Spalding. 


thing of that steady Catholic zeal which, with suitable 
organization, may achieve wonders.” 

Again, three months before his death, he wrote : “ While 
I was sick, I so greatly appreciated the sweet unction of the 
Psalms that I thought we neglected them too much, and 
that our piety was decidedly too dull and prosy ; and I 
almost made up my mind that, if I recovered, I would get up 
a new Prayer-Book, with Prime for morning prayer, Compline 
for evening prayer, and the full Psalter of David done into 
English. Our English Prayer-Books have but little of the 
unction, and none of the poetry, of the Psalms, which have 
been adopted by the church as her official standard of 
prayer.” 

A few days later, he wrote to Cardinal Barnabo: “ I am 
just convalescent from an illness which brought me to 
death’s door. God has wished to keep me longer here. 
Ellen! nimis prolongatus est incolatus mens! However, 
whilst I live, I shall not cease to work. Having completed 
the parochial schools near the cathedral, which have cost 
nearly thirty thousand dollars, I am about to begin the 
erection of a large church, in a quarter of the city where 
there is great need of one, which is to be dedicated to the 
service of God, under the patronage of St. Pius. I intend 
that this church shall be a perpetual memorial of the Jubi¬ 
lee of the Holy Father.” 

During the last months of his life, he began to prepare a 
new edition of his Sketches of Kentucky and the Life of 
Bishop Flagct , which he intended partly to rewrite and con¬ 
dense into one volume. He worked at this even during his 
last illness. At the end of his course, he looked back, with 
the greatest tenderness and love, to the spot where it first 
began. The scenes which had witnessed the labors of the 
best years of his life grew again before his eyes; he dwelt, 
with the fondness of a child, upon the places which are the 


Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding. 453 

whole world to his young heart ; and he found relief in occu¬ 
pying himself with thoughts of the days that were no more, 
in recalling to mind the labors and sufferings of those apos¬ 
tolic men who were the guides of his youth and the models 
of his maturer life. He thought again of the simple man¬ 
ners of the good old times, when, if hands were rough, 
hearts were brave and true ; when the noble courage and 
more than the purity of the matrons of Rome, in her best 
days, asked not other adornment than the home-spun gown. 
Again he wrote of Father Byrne and old St. Mary’s, buried 
deep in the dark woods, the peaceful home of religion and 
science, where one would have least looked for such an asy¬ 
lum ; and where, as the boy-professor, he won his first tri¬ 
umphs, and first felt his soul lifted heavenward on the wings 
of high aspiration and generous resolve. 

He loved to talk of the peaceful cloisters and convents, 
homes of all that God most loves, which are scattered 
through the old Catholic counties of Kentucky—of Geth- 
semane and St. Rose, of St. Joseph’s and St. Thomas’s, of 
Nazareth, of Loretto, of St. Catharine’s, of Holy Mary’s, 
and of Bethlehem. 

A short time before Christmas, he felt that it was his 
duty, though he was quite unwell, to go to New York, in 
order to be present at a meeting of bishops, in which 
matters of some importance were to be discussed. In re¬ 
turning home, he took cold, which brought on an attack 
of acute bronchitis of a very aggravated form. For six 
weeks, he suffered from partial suffocation, which often 
threw him into agonies of pain. During these six weeks, 
he was rarely ever able to lie in bed, but was obliged to 
sit in his chair. 

On Christmas morning, he said Mass for the last time, on 
a little altar which he had caused to be erected in the hall 
before his bedroom. When the Sisters of Charity, who 


454 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


were nursing him, expressed the fear lest he should not 
be able to stand so long, he replied: “ Pray that God may 
give me strength ; it would be a great sacrifice not to say 
Mass on the Feast of Christmas. Since my first Mass, 
God has given me great devotion in celebrating the divine 
mysteries.” He remained all night sitting in his chair, 
and at six o’clock prepared for the Holy Sacrifice. His 
left foot was considerably swollen, and he seemed to suffer 
intensely during the celebration of the Mass. When the 
sister asked him how he felt, he smiled and said, “ The 
sweet little Infant pressed on my foot during the Holy Sac¬ 
rifice.” From this time, his sufferings increased almost daily 
and the frightful spells of suffocation grew more frequent. 

He was in sickness, as in health, demonstrative, and 
could not easily remain quiet whilst any one was with 
him ; but Dr. McSherry, his physician, and the Sisters of 
Charity who nursed him, declare that his patience and 
resignation were perfect. He was willing to die, he was 
willing to get well, or he was willing to live and suffer, 
as it might please his divine Master. He united each pain 
with the different stages of our Lord’s passion. When 
able to speak, he gave frequent utterance to acts of faith, 
hope, and resignation. “ Not only will I suffer patiently 
and cheerfully,” he would often say, “ but, oh ! how lovingly, 
my sweet Jesus! May thy holy will be done for ever and 
ever!” “Grant me, O my God! patience and resignation, 
but, above all, thy love ; for patience and resignation may 
be pagan, but love is Christian.” He did not seem to feel 
any anxiety as to God’s judgment. “For well-nigh forty 
years,” I heard him say the day before he died, “ I have 
labored for God ; there may have been some little human 
vanity in some of my deeds, but, in the main, all was done 
with a right intention.” “My sweet Jesus!” he would 
often say, “ I go to thee full of confidence; not that I 


Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding. 455 


rely on any merits of my own, but solely on thy mercies, 
which are above all thy works.” 

The red sash which he had worn as a student of the 
Propaganda, and a crucifix, which had been blessed for the 
hour of death and given to him by Gregory XVI. after 
his ordination, he kept constantly with him during this 
sickness. In a hasty application of cups, when he was in 
danger of suffocating, heat was used in the absence of an 
exhausting-pump, and his chest was burned by the blazing 
alcohol. “ This,” he said, “ is like purgatory; but it is all 
right, I can bear it.” Upon another occasion, his sufferings 
became so intense as to blunt for a time his consciousness; 
respiration had almost ceased, and the physician thought 
it well to apply a powerful galvanic battery to his chest. 
When he came to himself again, and was told of this, he 
said : “ This, doctor, is a regular case of assault and bat¬ 
tery.” His habit of making playful remarks to visitors 
often deceived them as to his real condition. They could 
not believe that one who was consciously dying could be 
pleased to have smiling faces about him. Yet so it was. 
Archbishop Spalding spoke cheerfully and even gailytwenty 
minutes before he died. Death, though it approached him 
without disguise, had no terrors for him. He looked it in 
the face with a courage as heroic as it was unpretending. 

On the 3d of January, Father Coskery, thinking that he 
might die at any moment, determined to give him the Holy 
Viaticum and extreme unction. When he told the Arch¬ 
bishop of his intention, he thanked him, and added that it 
would give him the greatest satisfaction; for he had always 
prayed that he might not die without the last sacraments. 
About midnight, Father Coskery, accompanied by the other 
priests of the cathedral, entered his room and gave him 
Viaticum and extreme unction. After the reception of 
these holy sacraments, he spoke a few words of exhortation 


456 Life of Archbishop Spalding. 

to those around him, blessed them, and in their persons 
all his priests and children, and then remained for the rest 
of the night sitting in his chair, absorbed in prayer and 
meditation. He passed the night before Epiphany, which 
he called the great feast of the Propaganda, in a continual 
act of love and desire to receive holy communion. Father 
Coskery frequently gave him communion, during his illness, 
just after midnight. On these occasions, he would often ask 
what hour it was, and, when told, he would say: “ The time 
is fast approaching when my sweet Jesus will come to me. 
Oh! that I could die and be with him for ever! But not 
my will, but thine, be done, O Lord! ” 

He retained the perfect use of his faculties, and remained 
conscious, I think, to within five minutes of his death. 

One day, when Dr. McSherry was trying some new remedy 
to ease his intense suffering, he said : “ It is useless, doctor; 
I am worn out, worn out.” The doctor replied: “Your 
head and your heart, Archbishop, are not worn out.” “ No,” 
he answered, “ my heart is certainly not worn out, but my 
lungs are.” 

It would be difficult to suffer more than he suffered during 
those six weeks in which he sat in his chair, without sleep 
and without rest, and literally choked to death. “ If I get 
well,” he said, the day before he died, “ I intend to write a 
treatise on the art of choking to death.” He, however, had 
no thought of recovering, but had said from the very begin¬ 
ning of his sickness that his hour had come; and no favor¬ 
able symptoms ever deluded him for a moment into the 
belief that he would again be restored to health. 

The consulting physician one day assured him that, not¬ 
withstanding his great suffering, he would soon be better. 
He made no reply; but when the doctor had left the room, 
he said to the Sisters: “I will soon be better, indeed, but 
not in the way that he means.” 



Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding. 457 


On the feast of the Purification, he heard Mass, sitting in 
his chair, and received again the Holy Viaticum. He spent 
the whole day in tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 
He had lost his own mother, he said, when he was five years 
old, and he had then taken the Blessed Virgin for his mother, 
and she had had care of him through life. 

He several times spoke of his mother during his last ill¬ 
ness, of whose size, features, and gentle ways he said he 
had a very distinct remembrance, though she had died when 
he was so young; and he related to the Sisters the anec¬ 
dote about her calling him her little bishop. 

The following incident I shall give in the words of the 
Sisrer of Charity* who nursed the Archbishop during the 
last five weeks of his life : “ On Sunday night (February 4), 
he seemed to be much easier, and asked us to say prayers 
for him. When we had finished, he continued to move his 
lips in silent prayer. All at once he raised his eyes and 
hands towards heaven, his countenance lighted up, and in 
an ecstasy of delight he exclaimed: ‘ O my beautiful 

mother! my sweet mother ! how beautiful thou art! ’ He said 
to me : ‘ Oh ! do you see her? ’ But all that I saw was his 
countenance, so radiant that I know not how to describe it. 
After remaining thus transported with joy for three or four 
minutes, he closed his eyes, and said : ‘ Now, my sweet Jesus, 
I know for certain that thou art going to take me to thyself; 
for thou wouldst not permit me to see that light and leave 
me in this miserable world. O my God ! that light alone is 
worth, not only one, but many lives/ I then asked him 
what he had seen. Hesitating for some moments, he said: 

* Well, I will tell you, but you must say nothing of it, for 
the world would only laugh at it. My blessed Mother has 
deiened to visit me, and I saw her divine Son at a distance. 
She smiled on me, and said : “ Courage, my child ; all will be 


* Sister Louise Collins. 


458 


Life of A rch b is hop Spa Iding . 


well; I will soon come again.” But she did not tell me 
when.’ Then, looking at the pictures of the Blessed Virgin 
he said : ‘ Take them away ; I can no longer see in them any 
trace of my beautiful mother.’ ” 

“ I cannot,” continues the good Sister of Charity who 
writes this account, “ give an idea of my feelings while this 
heavenly scene lasted. I was afraid to breathe, and I kept 
my eyes steadily fixed on his countenance, which shone with 
a most brilliant light. On my way home the next morning, 
I asked the sister who had been present with me what her 
impressions were at the time. She replied: ‘ I was awe 
struck and astonished at your reply when the Archbishop 
asked you if you did not see the light. You answered, No.’ 

‘ Well,’ said I, 4 did you see it ? ’ ‘I did not see the light he 
spoke of,’ she answered, ‘ but I saw it reflected on his coun¬ 
tenance.’ ” 

Archbishop Spalding had never in his whole life, I think, 
had even a temptation to doubt of the truth of his faith. 
In fact, the only arguments which Catholics ever have 
against the church are their own sins. These are their only 
reasons for doubting. The Catholic faith, lived up to, is 
never doubted of. With Archbishop Spalding, faith and act 
had gone hand in hand; and he had not trod the primrose 
path of dalliance whilst pointing out to others the steep and 
thorny way that leads to heaven. His faith was therefore 
strong, as his life had been pure. But in his last illness, he 
seemed almost to realize the truths of the unseen world, and 
to contemplate them as though the earthly veil, that sym¬ 
bolizes but hides them, had been withdrawn. During the 
six weeks of intense suffering that immediately preceded 
his death, his conversation was in heaven, and he seemed to 
be as an aged exile, who, after long years of weary wander¬ 
ings, at length catches a glimpse of the home where his eyes 
first beheld the light of heaven and the created image of 


Illness and Death of Archbishop Spalding. 459 


God’s beauty. He prayed almost without ceasing, and when 
he spoke, unless he said some playful word to make others 
cheerful, it was always of God and his divine Son, of the 
ever Blessed Virgin and the saints. Each time that he 
took his medicine, he made a special act of obedience, and 
always blessed it with the sign of the cross before receiving 
it from the hand of the sister. 

On Tuesday night, February 6, he thought he was near 
death, and he sent for his good and devoted priests, as he 
loved to call them; and, when they had gathered around 
him, he made them kneel down and recite the prayers of 
the church for the departing soul. The next morning 
(Wednesday, February 7), he was suffering less than usual. 
When some one asked him how he felt, he answered: “ I 
am much easier, and entirely relieved of the choking sensa¬ 
tion ; but I am now dying of exhaustion.” A little later, 
in reply to the same question, he said: “ I am nearer 
heaven.” He remained perfectly calm, and during the 
forenoon talked in a very pleasant and cheerful manner. 
About half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, he said that 
he would like to lie on the lounge which was in his room. 
After he had been placed on it, he told the Sisters to kneel 
and say the Our Father and the Hail Mary five times, in 
honor of the five wounds of our Lord. He then blessed 
them and bade them good-by, saying that he would pray 
for all his children and friends in heaven. The Sisters saw 
that he was dying, and sent for Bishop Becker and the cler¬ 
gymen who were in the house. They immediately entered 
the room. The Archbishop raised his eyes and saw one of 
them kneeling near him, and he made a sign to the Sister 
that he wished to say something. She bent over him, and 
he whispered, as if excusing himself for not speaking, “ Tell 
him that I have lost my voice, and cannot speak.” Bishop 
Becker then gave him the last blessing, and in five minutes 


460 


Life of Archbishop Spalding. 


Archbishop Spafding’s mortal life was over. He died with¬ 
out a struggle, so calmly and peacefully that it was impossi¬ 
ble to tell the precise moment when the soul parted from 
the body; and the sweet smile that had cheered so many a 
weary soul still hovered about those lips which had pleaded 
only for truth, and justice, and mercy. 

His body was embalmed and laid in state in the parlor of 
the episcopal residence, which had been converted into a 
chapelle ardente . 

The public was admitted to view the remains on Friday 
morning, February the 9th ; and during this and the two 
following days, a continuous stream of human beings passed 
around the catafalque on which the body was lying. The 
whole city seemed to mourn. All creeds, colors, nationali¬ 
ties, and conditions of life were represented in the vast 
crowds that gathered to look for the last time upon all that 
remained of one whose goodness and purity of life no one 
doubted. Even the breath of envy and of sectarian bitter¬ 
ness was silenced, and, from one end of the land to the other, 
all bore testimony to the noble character and spotless life 
of Archbishop Spalding. 

The funeral took place on Monday, February the 12th. 
From early morning, the square around the cathedral was 
packed with people, anxious to assist at the last sad rites, 
and thousands turned away, despairing of being able even 
to obtain a sight of the procession. Fourteen bishops and 
probably two hundred priests took part in the ceremonies. 
The funeral sermon was preached by Archbishop McCloskey. 
When all was over, the body was borne down the central 
aisle of the cathedral into the vaults beneath, and was laid 
under the sanctuary, by the side of the remains of Arch¬ 
bishop Kenrick. 

Glonosi principes terra, quomodo in vita sna dilexerunt se 
it a et in morte non sunt separati. 


INDEX. 


Ability, the, of Archbishop 
Spalding, 444. 

Accusations against priests, 
Archbishop Spalding’s man¬ 
ner of dealing with, 270. 

Advocate, the Catholic, 72. 

Aix-la-Chapellc, 352. 

America, the Church of, 403. 

Annecy, 425. 

Anniversary, twenty-fifth, of 
the elevation of Pius IX. to 
the chair of Peter, 440. 

Archbishop Spalding, charac¬ 
teristic features in the life 
of, 442; his clear insight into 
the wants of the church in 
this country, 443 ; his know¬ 
ledge of character, 445 ; the 
willingness with which he 
accepted death, 449. 

Asylum, St. Thomas’ Orphan, 
146; St. Joseph’s, ibid. 

Avignon, 171. 

Badin, Father, 138. 

Baltimore, archdiocese of, 263. 

Barbee, John, 185. 

Barnabo, Cardinal, letter of 
Archbishop Spalding to, 384. 

Becker, Right Rev. Thomas A., 

37 5 * 

Belgium, 161. 

Bilio, Cardinal, letter of, to 
Archbishop Spalding, 432. 


Bishops in the United States, 
difficulties of their position, 
144 et scq. ; mode of appoint¬ 
ing, 310; number of, in the 
United States, 334. 

Books of devotion, 295. 

Bragg, General, 249. 

Brotherhoods, the teaching, 
15 5 seq. 

Brothers, the Xaverian, 160; 
of Christian instruction, 161 ; 
of the Christian schools, 266; 
of St. Patrick, 266. 

Byrne, the Rev. Wm., 21. 

Calvin, John, 426. 

Cantons, Protestant and 
Catholic, of Switzerland, 
428. 

Cathedral, St. Joseph’s, Bards- 
town, 66; of the Assumption, 
in Louisville, 147 et scq .; of 
Baltimore, 266, 269 ; of Phila¬ 
delphia, 272. 

Catholicism the only logical 
Christianity, 447. 

Catholics of Kentucky, 17 ct 
seq.; habits of, 136 ct scq.; 
their want of generosity ex¬ 
plained, 140 ct scq.; rever¬ 
ence of, for the priestly char¬ 
acter, 139. 

Catholicity, evidences of, 98; 
and nationalism, 176. 



Carroll, Charles, 33, 47 ; Arch¬ 
bishop, 238. 

Centenary of the martyrdom 
of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
346 . 

Ceremonies, closing, of the Se¬ 
cond Plenary Council of Bal¬ 
timore, 318. 

Chabrat, Bishop, 57; his re¬ 
signation accepted, 96. 

Chapter, Canonical, 312. 

Character, moral, of Archbish¬ 
op Spalding,. 444. 

Charleston, diocese of, 286. 

Chatard, Dr., letter of, to Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding, 430. 

Chicago, diocese of, 376. 

Church, Protestants defending 
the, 190; history of, in the 
United States, 264; the, and 
the country, 234 ; the 
strength of, 112; her ser¬ 
vices to the cause of civili¬ 
zation, 114, 116; influence 

of, 235. 

Civita Vecchia, 380. 

Clay, Henry, letter of, 181. 

Ccetus Theologorum of the 
Second Plenary Council of 
Baltimore, 303. 

College, St. Mary’s, 21 ; St. Jo¬ 
seph’s, 28 ; Georgetown, 264 ; 
Sulpician, Baltimore, 266; 
Mt. St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg, 
265; Loyola, 266 ; American, 
at Louvain, 162 et seq .; num¬ 
ber of missionaries which it 
has sent to the United 
States, 167; American, of 
Rome, 358. 

Commission, the, de fidci, in 
the Vatican Council, Arch¬ 


bishop Spalding a member 
of, 414. 

Concannen, Bishop, 310. 

Confessions of children who 
have not made their first 
communion, 276. 

Consistency of the church, 382. 

Convent, of women, first in the 
United States, 265. 

Conventuals, minor, 241. 

Converts, Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding’s interest in, 86 et seq. ; 
'their status in the church, 
227 ; number of in Ken¬ 
tucky and Maryland, 335. 

Corcoran, the Rev. James A., 
303 - 

Correspondence of Bishop 
Spalding and Archbishop 
Kenrick, 225 ; of Arch¬ 
bishop Spalding, 279. 

Corruption of American so¬ 
ciety, 363. 

Coskery, Father, address of, 
433 - 

Council, the First Plenary of 
Baltimore, 151 et seq.; the 
Second Plenary of Balti¬ 
more, 298; the Episcopal, 
312 ; the Second Plenary of 
Baltimore and Papal infalli¬ 
bility, 399. 

Councils, Provincial, of Cin¬ 
cinnati, 200; law of the 
Council of Trent concern¬ 
ing, 308. 

Country, the, and the church, 
234 - 

Covington, diocese of, 152. 

Crittenden, John J., 93. 

Crusade, anti-Catholic, favora¬ 
ble to the church, 198. 





Index. 


463 


Cullen, Cardinal, 48, 353 ; letter 
of Archbishop Spalding to, 
383. 

Dances, immodest, 360. 

Darras, translation of the 
Church History of, 279. 
D’Aubigne, 230. 

David, Bishop, 27, 56; his 
death, 124; biographical 
sketch of, 253. 

Death of Archbishop Spalding, 
459 - 

Dechamps, Mgr., 411. 
Democracy, difference between 
European and American, 
273; Christian, 377. 

De Neve, Mgr., 167. 

Devotion to the Blessed Vir¬ 
gin, 296. 

Difficulties, the historical, 
brought against the Papal 
infallibility, 408. 

Diocese of Louisville, condi¬ 
tion of, in 1864, 253. 
Discussions in the Vatican 
Council, manner in which 
they were conducted, 417. 
Doane, the Rev. G. H., 360. 
Dollinger, Dr., 406. 
Dominicans, the, 129. 

Dubois, the Rev. John, 265. 
Dupanloup, Bishop, letter of 
Archbishop Spalding to, 397. 

Eccleston, Archbishop, 266. 
Education, Roman ecclesiasti¬ 
cal, 44, 45 ; of woman, 370. 
Elba, Isle of, 380. 

Eloquence of the pulpit, Ca¬ 
tholicity and Protestantism 
compared in their influence 
upon, 99 et seq. 

England, Bishop, 49 ct scq. 


Europe, visit of Bishop Spal¬ 
ding to, 158. 

Faith a gift of God, 280. 

Fenelon, 411. 

Finances of the diocese of 
Louisville, 225. 

Flaget, Bishop, 27 ; resignation 
accepted, 56 ; the last months 
of his life, 123. 

Founders of the American Re¬ 
public, 364. 

Franklin, Dr., 257. 

Freedom of Discussion in the 
Vatican Council, 417. 

Freemasonry, 282. 

Friedrich, Dr., 419. 

Gallicanism, 159, 406. 

Gardiner, Mother Frances, 425. 

Gaume, the Abbe, 159. 

Gazette , the Pall Mall , 411. 

Geneva, 426. 

Gerbet, the Abbe, 160. 

Gibbons, Rt. Rev. James A., 
375 * 

Gousset, Cardinal, 158. 

Government, interference of, 
in the appointment of bi¬ 
shops, 257. 

Governments, the, of Europe, 
406. 

Gregory XVI., 43. 

Habits, personal, of Bishop 
Spalding, 222. 

Hallam, 231. 

Haseltine, the Rev. Joseph, 
247. 

Haskins, Father, 293. 

Health, ill, of Archbishop 
Spalding, 449. 

Hecker, Very Rev. I. T., 342. 





464 


Index. 


Heiss, Bishop, 303. 

Henry, Professor, 240. 

Heresies of Sixteenth Century, 
causes which led to, 232. 

History of the Reformation, 
230. 

Hohenlohe, Prince, note of, 
407. 

Holland, 168. 

Holy Childhood, Association 
of, 277. 

Hospitality, episcopal, 269. 

Hospitals, the military, in 
Kentucky, 246. 

House, the, of Calvin, 428. 

Hughes, Archbishop, 31, 189. 

Huntington, Dr., 227. 

Huxley, Professor, 332. 

Illness, last, of Archbishop 
Spalding, 453. 

Indianapolis, 252. 

Indians in Kentucky, 16. 

Industrial School for boys, St. 
Joseph’s, 374. 

Infallibility, the, of the Pope, 
Archbishop Spalding had 
always believed in, 382; a 
logical consequence of the 
Primacy, 398 ; not a new doc¬ 
trine, 419. 

Institute, Smithsonian, 2401 
Catholic, of Cincinnati, 242. 

Institutions of learning in Ken¬ 
tucky, 245 ; religious, num¬ 
ber of, in the United States, 
335 - 

Invasion, the, of Rome by the 
Italian Government, 430. 

Irish Catholics, prejudices 
against, 326; the love of, for 
the priest, 354. 

Italy, 350. 


Ives, Dr., 227, 293. 

Jesuits, the, 49 ; in Kentucky, 
125, 140, 250. 

Journal , the Louisville, 182. 

Journalism, religious, 75 et seq. 

Jubilee of 1825, 25. 

Kenrick, Most Rev. Francis 
Patrick, 27, 227; compared 
with Archbishop Spalding, 
261 ; his doctrine on Papal 
infallibility, 400. 

Keogh, the Rev. James, 303. 

Kindekens, Very Rev. Peter, 
167. 

Know-Nothings, the, 184. 

Ladies of the Sacred Heart, 
358 . 

Lafayette, General, 191. 

Law, canon, 218. 

Lazarists, the, 266. 

League, the Louisville, 97. 

Lecturer, Bishop Spalding’s la¬ 
bors as a, 102. 

Lectures, Sunday evening, 98. 

Lefevre, Bishop, 167. 

Legislature, the, of Kentucky, 
248. 

Letter of Bishop Miles, 91 ; of 
Bishop O’Connor, 260. 

Letters of Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding to his father, 30, 42 ; to 
Archbishop Kenrick, 30; to 
Father Byrne, 33; to his 
brother, 37,45 ; to his sister, 
39; to Bishop Flaget, 58; 
to Mrs. Coleman, 93; of 
Bishop Flaget, 38, 57 ; Apos¬ 
tolic, 300. 

Lexington, Dr. Spalding pas¬ 
tor of, 83 ct scq. 




Index. 


4 6 5 


Liberalism and Catholicism, 
424. 

Liberty, civil, and Papal infal¬ 
libility, 422. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 285. 

Little Sisters of the Poor, 376. 

Logan, Caleb W., 187. 

Louisville, transfer of the see 
of the diocese to, 89. 

Losses of the church in the 
United States, 323. 

Luers, Bishop, 279. 

Magoffin, Governor, 248. 

Maguire, John Francis, 355. 

Mai, Cardinal, 62. 

Manning, Archbishop, 408. 

Mason, Judge, address of, 433. 

Marriage of Catholics and Pro¬ 
testants, 277. 

Marseilles, 171. 

Marshall, General Humphrey, 
187 ; Dr., 411. 

McGill, Bishop, 97. 

McTavish, Mrs. Emily, 269. 

McSherry, Dr., 454. 

Merode, Count de, 165. 

Mezzofanti, Cardinal, 48. 

Milan, 350. 

Mmerva , the St. Joseph’s Col¬ 
lege, 67. 

Miscellanea , the, 189. 

Miscellany , the Catholic , 75. 

Missions, popular, 86; by 
whom introduced into this 
country, 134. 

Monday, Bloody, 184. 

Monks, Irish, 196. 

Montalembert, 161. 

Morse, Professor, 191. 

Motives for holding Second 
Plenary Council of Balti¬ 
more, 298. 


Motto, the, attributed to Lafay¬ 
ette, 191. 

Murder of the innocents, 373. 

Nagot, the Rev. M., 264. 

Nashville, diocese of, 89 et scq. 

Nationalism and religion, 174 
et seq. 

Nations, the law of the rise 
and downfall of, 362 et seq. 

Neale, the Rev. Charles, 264. 

Negroes, Bishop Spalding’s 
sympathy with, 224. 

Nelson, General, 250. 

Nerincks, Father, 155. 

Newman, the Rev. Henry H., 
227. 

Objections to the church, 106. 

O’Connor, Bishop, 226. 

Odin, Archbishop, 259. 

Orders, the religious, witnesses 
to the supernatural power 
of Catholic faith, 127. 

Ordination, largest ever held 
in the U. S., 375. 

Pallotti, Father Vincent, 48. 

Pantheism, 330. 

Party, the Native American, 
181 ; the Whig, 182; the 
Know-Nothing, 182 et seq. ; 
the Third, in the Vatican 
Council, 396. 

People, the, of the South, 287; 
of Ireland, 353 ; the, 378. 

Persecution of Catholics in 
this country, 108. 

Philosophy of History, 231. 

Picnics, 371. 

Pius VIII., 40. 



466 


Index. 


Pius IX., 172 ; letter of, to 
Archbishop Spalding, 441. 

Plebiscite, 438. 

Politics, Bishop Spalding’s 
aversion to, 188. 

Polity, ecclesiastical, in the 
U. S., 307. 

Pope, the, duty of contributing 
to the support of, 278 ; can¬ 
not be the subject and at the 
same time the friend of any 
earthly ruler, 437. 

Population, Catholic, of Ken¬ 
tucky, 132 ; of the U. S., 335. 

Postulatum, the, of Archbi¬ 
shop Spalding, 387. 

Power, temporal, of the Pope, 
435- 

Prayer-books, English, 452. 

Prerogative of place granted 
to the Archbishop of Balti¬ 
more, 259. 

Prejudice, Archbishop Spal¬ 
ding free from, 446. 

Prejudices, Protestant, 107. 

Prentice, George D., 183. 

Prescott, Wm. H., 231. 

Priests, parish, 312; number 
of, in the U. S., 334. 

Pride, scientific, of Germany, 
405- 

Primate, none in the U. S., 
218. 

Professordom, the, of Ger¬ 
many, 408. 

Progress of the church in the 
U. S., 328 et seq. ; of science, 
33 1 - 

Protectory, St. Mary’s, 292. 

Protest of the Catholics of 
Baltimore and Washington 
City against the invasion of 
Rome, 434, 


Protestantism in the U. S 
328,413- 

Purcell, Archbishop, 318. 

Puritans, the, 329. 

Question, the, of the future, 
378 . 

Reasons for an implicit defini¬ 
tion of Papal infallibility, 
389. 

Reception of Archbishop 
Spalding in Baltimore, 432. 

Redemptorists, the, 266. 

Reformation, the causes that 
led to, 232. 

Reisach, Cardinal, 62. 

Relations of the two orders of 
the clergy, 218. 

Religion the only safeguard 
of American society, 367. 

Republics founded by Catho¬ 
lics, 176. 

Residence, archiepiscopal, of 
Baltimore, 269. 

Retreat, eight days’, of Bishop 
David, 252. 

Review , the Dublin, 79. 

Reynolds, Bishop, 95. 

Rich, the, religious character 
of, 376. 

Rights, parochial, 312. 

Rome, Archbishop Spalding’s 
love of, 348. 

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 427. 

Ryan, Rt. Rev. P. J., 304. 

Saints, patronal, 276. 

Salvation, exclusive, Catholic 
doctrine of, 281. 

Schism, the Old Catholic, 408, 

School, industrial, for girls, 

358 . 



Index. 


467 


Schools, industrial, 289, 293; 
for the emancipated slaves, 
333 . 

Science, effect of the progress 
of, on religious faith, 331. 

Sciolism, 446. 

See, the Holy, conservatism of, 
413; the first episcopal in 
the U. S., 310. 

Seminary, Theological, at 
Bardstown, 27 ; Mount St. 
Mary’s, Cincinnati, 200 ; St. 
Mary’s, Baltimore, 264 ; Pre¬ 
paratory, St. Thomas’, 200; 
St. Charles’, 266. 

Sermon on the Blessed Virgin, 
295. 

Seton, Mother, 265. 

Sisterhood of the Good Shep¬ 
herd, 131 ; in Baltimore, 269. 

Slaves, the emancipated, 338. 

Societies, secret, 283. 

Society of Jesus, reorganiza¬ 
tion of, in the U. S., 265 ; of 
St. Joseph for Foreign Mis¬ 
sions, 340 ; the Catholic Pub¬ 
lication, 342. 

Soldier of the Cross, 451. 

Spalding, Archbishop, his 
knowledge of mathematics, 
23, 24 ; illness in Rome, 41 ; 
is ordained priest, 59 ; presi¬ 
dent of St. Joseph’s College, 
83; pastor of St. Peter’s 
Church, Lexington, Ky., 84 
et seq.; vicar-general of the 
diocese of Louisville, 95; 
his manner as a public 
speaker, 104 ; appointed co¬ 
adjutor of Bishop Flaget, 
121 ; his consecration, 122; 
his Life of Bishop Flaget , 149 
et seq. ; Mother Catherine, 


64; Very Rev. B. J., 225; 
death of, 374. 

St. Francis de Sales, 425. 

Sulpicians, the, in Baltimore, 
266. 

Syllabus, the, Archbishop 
Spalding’s defence of, 272. 

Synod, the Sixth, of Baltimore, 
275; the Third, of Louisville, 
249 - 

System of common schools in 
the United States, 204 et seq. 

Tablet , the London, 387. 

Tendency of modern social 
movements, 321. 

Thebaud, Father, 356. 

Theses, defence of, 50 et seq. 

Thonon, 426. 

Thought, undercurrents of, in 
France and Germany, 404. 

Timon, Bishop, 252. 

Tissiaux, canon, 171. 

Titulus missionis, 218. 

Toleration of Catholics in the 
United States, causes which 
led to, 109. 

Trappists, the, 126 et seq. 

Trusteeism, 325. 

Umilta, Convent of, 359. 

Unanimity not required for 
doctrinal definitions, 401. 

Union of church and State, 
237 - 

University, Catholic, for the 
United States, 298, 313 et 
seq.; idea of, 316 ; the, of 
Louvain, 170; of Notre 
Dame, Indiana, 295. 

Vanpelt, the Rev. Dr., 197. 





468 


Index. 


Vatican, the, Council of, 
379 - 

Vaughan, the Rev. Herbert, 
340 . 

Version, English, of the Bible, 
227. 

Veuillot, M. Louis, 377. 

Vicar Apostolic, of London, 
257 - 

Virgin, the Blessed, devotion 
of Bishop Spalding to, 169, 
221. 

Visitation, Order of the, 265 ; 
the episcopal, Bishop Spald¬ 
ing’s manner of making, 134. 


Vocations to the priesthood, 
275 - 

Vote, the final, on Papal infal¬ 
libility, 415. 

Washington City, reception of 
Archbishop Spalding in, 434. 

Webb, Hon. B. J., 98. 

Whelan, the Rev. David, 359. 

White, the Rev. Dr., 279. 

Woman, false system of educa¬ 
tion of, 370. 

Wood, General, 246; Bishop, 
369 - 

Worship, freedom of, 275. 




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Problems of the Age. With Studies 

in St. Augustine on Kindred Subjects. By- 
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The Office of Vespers. Containing the 
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B. V. Mary. By Rev. Alfred Young. With 
the Imprimatur of the Most Rev. Archbishop 
of New York. (The Gregorian Tones, and 
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Light in Darkness: A Treatise on the 

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NEW TESTAMENT. 


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FOLLOWING OF CHRIST. 


In Four Books. By Thomas h Kempis, with 
Reflections at the conclusion of each chapter. 
Translated from the French for this edition. 

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3 50 

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DAILY COMPANION. 

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trative Engravings. 32010, cloth, . $0 25 

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THE MISSION BOOK. 

A Manual of Instructions and Prayers, adapted 
to preserve the Fruits of the Mission. 
Drawn chiefly from the Works of St. Al- 
phonsus Liguori. New, Improved, and En¬ 
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Book published. Edited by the Paulist 
Fathers. 620 pages, illustrated with new 
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edition. It contains a complete Vesperal, 
with notes and other additions, making it 120 
pages larger than former editions. 

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Full calf, rims and tocled edges, . 7 50 


CHRISTIAN’S GUIDE TO 
HEAVEN. 


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CATHOLIC MANUAL. 


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TRUE PIETY; 


Or, The Day Well Spent. A Manual of fer¬ 
vent Prayers, Pious Reflections, and Solid 
Instructions for Catholics. i8mo. 


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GARDEN OF THE SOUL; 

Dr, A Manual of Spiritual Exercises and In¬ 
structions for Christians who, living in the 
world, aspire to devotion. By Right Rev. 
Dr. Challoner. 24mo, cloth, . . $0 50 

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The Catholic Publication Society\ 


THE KEY OF HEAVEN; 

Or, Devout Christian’s Daily Companion. To 
which is added. Daily Devotion ; or, Profit¬ 
able Manner of Hearing Mass. Illustrated. 
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PIOUS GUIDE TO PRAYER AND 
DEVOTION. 

Containing various Practices of Piety calcu¬ 
lated to answer the demands of the devout 
members of the Catholic Church. i8mo, 

[ cloth,. $0 75 

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This Prayer-Book contains the Profession of 
Faith, Bona Mors Festivals explained, as well 
as ottier important things not generally found 
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.$0 50 


00 

50 

50 

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PATH TO PARADISE. 

A Selection of Prayers and Devotions for Ca¬ 
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.$0 75 

1 25 

2 

3 

4 

6 


50 

50 

50 

00 


The most complete Prayer-Book 

PUBLISHED. 

THE CATHOLIC’S VADE ME GUM. 

A Select Manual of Prayers for Daily Use. 
Compiled from approved sources. New and 

improved edition reprinted from the last 
London edition, containing Epistles and 
Gosoels. 500 pages, 24100 . 

Arabesque, plain, .... .$0 75 

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KEY OF PARADISE; 

Opening the Gate to Eternal Salvation. 12010 , 


THE POCKET PRAYER-BOOK. 

A Prayer-Book for Men. This book is printed 
from beautiful large type, on extra fine 
French paper, and, although containing 650 
pages, is only 14 inch thick, 3 ^ inches long, 
and 2 % inches wide. It contains, besides 
Festival Days, etc., A Summaiy of Christian 
Doctrine—Morning and Evening Prayers— 
The Three Litanies—The Complete Mass, in 
Latin and English—Vespers—and the Epis¬ 
tles and Gospels. 

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Embossed, gilt, 
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Morocco, 

Full calf, limp, 
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60 

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50 

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Large Type Prayer-Book. 

MANUAL OF CATHOLIC DIVI¬ 
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With Epistles and Gospels. i8mo. 
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The People’s Pictorial Lives of the 

Saints, Scriptural and Historical. Abridged, 
for the most part, from those of the late Rev. 
Alban Butler. In packages of 12 each. One 
packet now ready, containing the lives of 
twelve different saints. Per packet, 25 cts. 
These are got up expressly for Sunday-school 
presents. 

Packets of Scripture Illustrations. 

Containing Fifty Engravings ot Subjects 
from the Old and New Testaments, after 
original designs by Elster. Price, loose 
packages of fifty, .... 75 cts. 

Twenty Illustrations of the Holy 

Gospels. Done in colors after original de¬ 
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Illuminated Sunday-School Cards. 

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Second series, net,.... 50 cts. 

Third series, net, .... 30 cts. 

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SUNDAY-SCHOOL CLASS-BOOKS. 

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LAWEENCE KEHOE, General Agent, 

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